A Collection of Stories
by L.Lawliet.Lover
Summary: I'm not coming on this site really anymore, and I need to clear files off of my computer, so this is where I'm going to be dumping everything. Some might be incomplete, and the ratings and genres of all of them vary. If you see any story topics that you enjoy, then you are allowed to take the topic for yourself. Details are at the top of chapter one regarding that.
1. Chapter 1

**Also, if any of you wish to take over my story ideas, feel free to do so. All I ask is credit for the idea, and for you to PM me with a link to the story so I can follow it myself. After all, most of these are just uncompleted stories that I was too lazy to finish.**

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"Happy birthday, big brother!" a female teenager with dark brown hair giggled and held out a neatly wrapped present. "Even at eighteen, you're still as brilliant as ever!"

A young man with caramel hair accepted the gift with a small smile. "Thanks, Sayu. But you really didn't have to get me anything."

She giggled again. "Oh, Light. So humble as always. But really, it's your birthday, silly! Even the most smart and handsome people get presents on their birthdays, 'ya know!"

Light smiled wider this time and looked down at the present. "Of course. Thank you, Sayu."

Sayu replied by falling into Light, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Light blinked in surprise before smiling warmly and returning the embrace. Sayu pulled back a little to look up at him with her arms still wrapped around his body.

"And remember, even though you get to leave and go to college doesn't mean you need to get all popular with the ladies! Do you know how many girls call you?" Sayu teased as she pulled away completely and winked. "You womanizer you!"

"Sayu!" Light scolded and tried to appear serious, but even he couldn't fight off the smile at Sayu's teasing. Sayu looked up in faux innocence, shrugging. "What, you can't say it isn't true." Her voice changed to a tone higher than her real one as she flipped her hair and fluttered her eyes. " 'Hey Light, want to come party with me tonight? I can pay for the hotel afterwards'." Sayu winked at the end of this before clearing her voice and letting it drop to a masculine tone. She supported her left arm on her right arm which she brought across her chest. She held her face in her left hand and looked up at the ceiling in faux interest, attempting to mimic her brother. " 'Sorry, Yuri, I can't because Kiyomi already asked me to go watch a movie with her. Maybe tomorrow-'"

Light shoved her playfully, trying to fight back a grin. "_Sayu!_"

"Just kidding!" Sayu laughed as she regained her balance and pushed Light back. "Geez, Light. You take things way too seriously. I would hate to be your girlfriend."

They both laughed. It was just innocent teasing between siblings. Like the moments they used to have when they were younger, before Light was leaving to go to college and Sayu was starting high school. It felt like Light was fourteen and Sayu eleven again- back when things weren't so complicated with Light's choice of career path: Criminal Justice. Back when Light wasn't helping his father solve murder cases. Back when they were just normal children without a care in the world other than deciding what game to play next.

"Light! Can you come down here for a moment?"

The sound of Light's mother calling him interrupted their joking. They were still both grinning at each other as Light moved to his bedroom door while smoothing down his formal suit, which had been wrinkled when Sayu hugged him. The present was placed on his bookshelf for later as he opened his door, Sayu at his heels. "Coming, Mom!"

"Oh, and tell Sayu to stay upstairs, all right?"

Sayu stomped her right foot in defiance and crossed her arms, her bottom lip sticking out like a child as she pouted. "Aww, come on! I never get to be in any of the fun conversations!"

Light's mother, Sachiko, was standing at the base of the stairs looking up at Light and Sayu. She smiled in amusement. "Some things are more of adult issues, Sayu. Light is an adult now, after all."

Sayu rolled her eyes like most teenagers do when arguing with their parents. "Whatever. I'm going to go watch TV in my room, so don't bother me!"

"Who would want to?" Light called teasingly after her. It appeared he was still stuck in that four years ago time period.

"Shut up, Light!" Sayu shouted before slamming her door.

Light just chuckled in response before making his way down the stairs to meet his parents. Sachiko smiled warmly, though Light could detect something else in her eyes. Sadness? Well, Light was leaving to go to college today, so that was understandable. Though with high school in the day and cram school at night, Light was barely home before he finished high school anyway.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Light asked politely with his signature modest smile. Light had the looks that could win anyone over, and he used them without even knowing it. Or so he says, although he's complemented all the time on his looks, so he has to have some sort of clue by now.

"Why don't you come into the living room so we can talk with your father?" Sachiko suggested as she gestured towards the room right of the stairs. His father, Soichiro, was sitting on plush, maroon sofa parallel to a wooden coffee table. He seemed troubled about something, but that wasn't an uncommon sight either. His father was chief of police so he's constantly working on solving crimes. Light was surprised he's even here today considering how busy he is. Maybe that's why he seems so deep in thought.

Light took a seat at a matching couch on the other side of the coffee table while Sachiko took a seat by Soichiro. They both exchanged glances with each other before looking back at Light. It seems as though they were at loss for words.

Light cleared his throat after a few awkward moments of silence. "Ahem… Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Sachiko and Soichiro exchanged glances again before his mother started fiddling with her fingers, refusing eye contact. Finally, she looked up after another period of silence. "Light, remember, no matter what we're your parents and we love you unconditionally," she blurted out. It seems as though his mother was on the verge of tears, which bothered him a little.

Light tipped his head in confusion as he let out a lighthearted chuckle. "Mom, college won't make me forget that you're my parents. Don't be ridiculous."

"That… Isn't what your mother is trying to say, Light," Soichiro said quietly before taking Sachiko's hand in his.

Light stopped smiling before displaying a true look of confusion. "What's wrong? Is it a case you're working on? Is it dangerous? I could help-"

"Light…" Soichiro started, taking in a deep breath. He hesitated for moment before exhaling, breathing out the rest of the sentence almost inaudibly. "…You're adopted."

Light laughed at first. Adopted. _Right. _Like Light hasn't heard that's he's adopted before- wait _what? _His disposition changed at once as he sucked in a breath. "A-Adopted? Is this some sort of joke?"

He shook his head. "We… Figured now is the right time to tell you," Soichiro explained as he held the now weeping Sachiko in his arms. "We adopted you when you were only two years old. If you want any information on the orphanage you came from-"

"The right time to tell me?" Light interrupted, his eyes wide in shock. His voice was slowly rising as he continued, "Right when I'm about to leave for college is the right time to tell me? My whole life is different now!"

"T-this is w-what I was scared o-of," Sachiko sobbed into Light's father's arms. "H-he won't love u-us… anymore!"

"Sachiko, that is ridiculous," Soichiro growled before changing his tone to a softer one. "I'm sure he'll be okay, anyone would be shocked-"

"What about Sayu?" Light sputtered, interrupting his father in mid sentence again. "Is she adopted too? Does she know?"

"Sayu wasn't adopted. And no, she doesn't know that she isn't related to you," his father sighed. After another period of them staring at each other, Soichiro sighed again before providing an explanation. "Your mother was told at first that she wouldn't be capable of bearing children. So, we traveled to Whammy's House to adopt a child. We had heard that children from there are abnormally intelligent, and we wanted to give one of them a good life-"

"If Mom couldn't bear children, then how'd she have Sayu?" Light interrupted yet again, his eyes narrowed and his voice on the verge of shouting.

Soichiro broke eye contact. "It was a miracle. We don't know how it happened either."

"But- But what about my love for justice? That was passed from you to me, right?" Light was trying to hard to convince himself that what he was hearing wasn't true, but deep down he knew he was adopted. It's surprising he didn't catch on sooner, really. He had deep caramel hair and honey eyes, while the rest of his family had dark brown hair and chocolate eyes. He always thought that maybe the genes for his hair and eye color skipped a few generations, but now he realized… He must have really stood out.

"…It was influential," Soichiro said slowly. "But like your mother said, we are your parents and have been here for you since day one. We love you unconditionally and will continue to if you allow us."

"Adopted…" Light muttered as held his head in his hands. "Adopted…"

Light couldn't believe what he was hearing. Adopted. Him. And not only that, but he came from an orphanage. He's an orphan? What happened to his real parents? Did they die, or just dump him there? And what's this "Whammy's House"? Is that the orphanage's name? So many questions were swimming in his head at once. He felt the edge of a headache creeping over him.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence (There seems to be many of those in this conversation…), Soichiro cleared his throat. "Yes, I know this is a hard moment for all of us. But I don't want to stand in the way of you finding out about your past and, knowing you Light, you probably would want to," His father reached in his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "So, we prepared flight tickets for nine in the morning to Winchester just in case you wanted to visit the orphanage we adopted you from."

"Winchester…?" Light mumbled, staring at the paper in slight shock. "I'm from _England? _Am I even Japanese?"

"Whammy's House takes in genius children from all over the world. We took careful consideration into choosing a child that would match our nationality. So yes, you are Japanese."

Light took the paper in his grasp, glancing it over. Nine in the morning, flight 287, Tokyo Airlines. Twelve-hour flight. If he went, he wouldn't arrive in Winchester until nightfall. Not to mention he's going to be walking into some orphanage that he's never even heard of that is apparently where he spent his early years. It was intriguing, but Light was having second thoughts.

Soichiro seemed to sense this because he continued, "Do you want to know something interesting? After doing further research and conversing with the orphanage owners, that orphanage is apparently training L's successors. …You do know who L is, right?"

Light rolled his eyes. "_Of course, _Dad. I would be a disgrace to the career I'm pursuing if I didn't."

"You were the highest ranking student at Whammy's at age two," Soichiro went on. "Even then they could measure your potential. Who knows, maybe they will still be interested in you. You are Japan's top student, after all."

"What purpose would there be?" Light snapped. His shocked stage was clearly changing to an irritated one.

His mother, who had calmed down a bit, blinked in surprise. The tears had dried on her cheeks and her eyes were puffed up and red from crying. It made Light feel a little guilty for reacting the way he did. "You want to meet L, right? For most young detectives it's their dream. I know it was your father's when he was growing up. He told me so."

"Like L would have any interest in me," Light muttered. "He's probably busy doing important things… Like doing his job? Which, isn't very easy, should I remind you."

Soichiro shrugged. "You never know. From what I've heard, L does a lot of his cases in one place. Maybe he actually _lives _at Whammy's House."

"_Or he told people that to mislead them into thinking he stays in one place, when in reality he's moving all around the world." Light retaliated. "Just leave me alone, all right? I need to think this through."_


	2. Chapter 2

**This one is very long, 14,000 words in fact. Just warning you in case you start reading and get bored or something.**

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August 24, 1993

"How much longer?" I mumbled, staring out the car window as we drove down the highway. My left knee was drawn up to my chest, supporting my head which was leaning against the window. My breath was fogging up the glass as I sighed in a bored manner.

"Not too much longer, sweetie." my mother reassured as she looked back at me to give me a warm smile.

I huffed, causing my blonde strands to fly out of my face for a moment before landing back on it in an even messier fashion. "You've been saying that for the last two hours."

"Your father got lost. Come on, Rachel, cheer up. We're going to the beach, aren't you excited?"

I sighed in response to my mother. "No, actually I'm not. You know how badly I burn in the sun, yes?" I let my deep blue eyes move to my mother's disappointed face. "And I recall mentioning once or twice how much I dislike going outdoors. That's why I'm always playing inside."

"Such an impressive vocabulary for a nine-year-old." I heard my mom mumble as she turned away from me.

"She's always been smart, Sarah. You know that." my father laughed in response to my mother.

"Yes, I know David. But…"

I closed my eyes as my parents began to discuss my intelligence. Ever since I was born I've been rather sharp, the doctors and teachers agree. I learned to walk when I was nearly one, and learned to talk soon after. I always picked up on things rather quickly. I was even given the option to skip from first to third grade since the other two grades were 'unneeded' since I was so far ahead of my classmates. But even then I found school unchallenging. Straight-A student who never studies. My parents don't understand, but that's fine. They probably never will.

"David, look out!" my mom shrieked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Eh?" I managed to say before our car slammed into incoming traffic.

The sound metal scraping against metal and tires squealing are the last thing I remember hearing before going unconscious.

_Beep…Beep…Beep… _The constant sound hitting my ears drew me from my sleep. My eyes fluttered open, my blurry vision focusing to look around the room. "I'm in a… hospital?"

I pushed a light blanket off of my body, examining my white hospital gown and the IV tubes sticking out of my arms. "But why?"

"Ah, you're awake." My attention turned to a man who stood in the doorway. He wore pale green scrubs with a stethoscope hanging loosely around his neck. He spoke to me in that annoying voice adults use when speaking to children. "How are you feeling?"

"Great." I muttered dryly, my tone heavy with sarcasm. My head was pounding, and it took all of my ability to keep from wincing. "Where are my parents?"

His smile vanished and his face took on a grim appearance. "I'm afraid your parents aren't here anymore. They took a long trip-"

"You're saying they're dead?" I interrupted, annoyed that the doctor was treating me like a small child. Well, technically I am. But mentally I am more mature than that.

"…Yes. I'm very sorry." the doctor replied, stunned.

I flinched. "It's quite alright," I sighed, holding back tears. I pushed myself into a sitting position. "I remember what happened. I was in a car wreck, right?"

"Yes. You suffered a mild concussion and a few bruises, but other than that you'll be fine."

I was relieved the doctor wasn't treating me like a child anymore. I swear if he had said that I simply hurt my head… "Thank you. And what about my parents?"

The doctor scratched his head uncomfortably. "I just told you, they passed away."

"I'm referring to their injuries." I muttered. "What killed them?"

The doctor seemed slightly disturbed that I asked this, but I didn't care. I was only curious. "Your father was thrown through the windshield and cracked his skull on the pavement. He died from internal bleeding."

"Yes, I recall him not wearing a seatbelt…" I murmured thoughtfully, silently scolding my dead father for being so careless. "And my mother?"

"Broken neck. She died on impact." the doctor replied simply, making his way over to my bed. "Are you okay? You're taking the death of your parents rather well."

"No, I am devastated. I just don't show emotions very well." my voiced cracked at the end of my sentence, and I felt immediately embarrassed.

"I see…" the doctor murmured, gazing thoughtfully at me.

After a few moments of silence, a rather old looking man entered the room. His hair was brown, but was highly streaked with silver. He wore a black hat and simple silver glasses. For clothes, he wore a black formal jacket over a white dress shirt with a black tie. Black dress pants matched the jacket, and shiny formal black shoes which finished off the sophisticated look. "Hello, Miss Alexander, is it?" he asked, speaking in British accent.

I was surprised that he was speaking to me, but I simply nodded. "Yes, why?"

"I am the founder of an orphanage for gifted children in England. You can call me Watari."

"Pleasure to meet you, Watari." I greeted in a slightly dull tone.

"I just happened to be a few vehicles behind you when the car crash occurred. I am so sorry for the loss of your parents." Watari told me. I was about to ask why he was concerned, but he quickly cut to the chase. "I am looking for children to live at the orphanage, and I noticed that you skipped two grades because of your intelligence. Is that correct?"

"Yes." I replied bluntly. "I take it that you want to take me to this orphanage?"

"That is correct, Miss Alexander." Watari nodded. "But first I need to confirm your intelligence." He pulled a folded up sheet of paper out of his jacket, handing it to me. I unfolded it, examining what was written on it. "An IQ test, huh.."

"Yes. I can confirm your IQ if you take this."

"But Rachel, you just suffered a concussion." the doctor, who had been silent for a while, protested. "Maybe you shouldn't put so much strain on your brain for now."

"No, it's fine." I replied flatly. "Do you have a pen?"

Stunned once again, the doctor handed me a pen that he pulled from his pocket. I pulled off the pen cap and immediately began scribbling down answers. The test wasn't too challenging, mostly just tricks that are meant to confuse those who weren't intelligent to read through it. But I was more clever than that. After about ten minutes, I wrote the final answer and handed it to Watari.

"You finished it already?" the doctor asked in disbelief.

"Yes, though normally I don't like bragging, I am quite intelligent." I told him, a hint of annoyance in my tone.

Watari nodded in agreement, looking over my answers. "Yes, yes you are. These are impressive results. You are qualified to come live with other gifted children at my orphanage, Whammy's House." He looked up from the IQ test, making eye contact with me. "Would you like to?"

"Yes, that sounds fine." I replied, managing a small smile under the grief of losing my parents.

Watari smiled warmly. "You will fit right in, don't worry." He then turned to the doctor. "When will she be discharged?"

"She should be okay to leave tomorrow. We just need to watch her overnight to make sure her concussion doesn't get any worse."

"Okay." Watari turned and walked out, looking back at me over his shoulder. "I'll be back to get you tomorrow, Rachel. I bet you're excited, traveling from America to England will be quite a trip."

"Yes, it will." I agreed, excitement building inside of me at the thought of traveling to England. If anything was going to make me feel better, it was going to this orphanage. Finally I'll be able to meet children on my level!

"I'll see you tomorrow. Get plenty of rest." Watari smiled before walking out of sight.

August 25, 1993

Watari led me down the busy airport towards 'Gate 4B'. I was feeling a little more alive today, and I could tell that the excitement was beaming on my face as the man chuckled slightly. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." I replied, trying to keep myself from racing to the gate at the end of the hall.

I had to admit, I was feeling a bit immature and childish. But who couldn't be excited about going to England? Much more exciting than going to the beach. I bit my lip, immediately guilty at my thoughts. _They were only trying to bond with me. They had no intentions on burning my skin or causing me discomfort. I wish we could have gone to the beach now… Maybe I could've had fun like a normal kid._

Watari stopped when we reached the gate, turning to give me a sad smile. "This is goodbye, Miss Alexander."

I tipped my head in confusion. "You're not coming?"

He shook his head. "No, I still need to recruit more children. Whammy's House is still rather small."

"Oh." I shifted uncomfortably, turning my gaze to the gate that led into the plane.

"I've arranged an escort to pick you up in England. Don't worry, you'll be alright." Watari assured me.

"I see." I mumbled.

Watari placed his wrinkled hand on my shoulder before handing a woman who stood behind a nearby counter my airplane ticket. The woman took it, smiling a friendly smile. "You may now board the plane, enjoy your flight."

"Thank you."

I began to walk into the gate, not bothering to look back at Watari. Halfway down the hallway, I heard his voice call to me. "Goodbye, Miss Alexander. Hopefully we will meet again."

I froze, before answering, "Yes. Goodbye, Watari."

I continued walking until I was inside the plane. Several people were seated in the beige, leather seats and were talking quietly amongst themselves. I moved down the aisle, taking my seat somewhere in the middle. Watari had been kind and got me a ticket in first class, even though he barely knew me. _He must be rich, to have enough money to just hand out like that. _I pulled off my black backpack, the only piece of luggage that I was allowed on bring on the plane. It didn't have much in it: just a jacket in case I got cold, a book of crossword puzzles, and a book of word searches. I enjoyed doing these over any sort game, despite how simple they were. They made me concentrate and analyze things, and overall made me think. I unzipped the bag and pulled out my word search, opening to a new page. I didn't own simple word searches. My word searches had at least 4,000 tiny letters in one rectangle, and there were quite a few words concealed in them. The whole thing looked like a mess by the time I completely solved a puzzle. I began jadedly marking out words, yawning after finding 20. "Thank you for boarding Florida Airlines," the flight attendant's voice came over the intercom. "We are about to begin liftoff. Please remain seated until we are level in the sky…"

I leaned against the window, closing my eyes tiredly as I blocked out the sound of the flight attendant. I figured if I slept the whole way there, the time will go by a lot quicker. I curled up in the leather seat, drawing my knees to my chest and turning onto my side and pressed my head against the glass. Moments later I felt the plane begin moving and I allowed myself to get lost in the feeling of the moving plane, much like a small child got lulled to sleep in a car ride.

I leaned back in my seat, glancing every now and then out the window to look at the setting sun. I slept through the entire plane ride; I don't even remember the plane taking flight. Watari's escort picked me up outside the plane, as promised. He had rented a rather impressive-looking black limo, which only backed up my hypothesis of the man being wealthy.

We were now only minutes away from pulling into the orphanage and it felt like my stomach was doing back flips in excitement. I managed to keep a calm composure, however, simply nodding every time my escort updated me on our location. We had driven out in the country; the nearest city was at least an hour away. There was nothing on either sides of the road except long, uncut wild grass and scattered trees.

I squinted my eyes as a beautiful building came into view. It was surrounded by a field of crisp, freshly cut grass that was littered with children's playthings. An iron fence lined the street that led to a large, iron gate. The limo slowed to a stop, my escort stepping out of his seat before opening my door. I grabbed my backpack and duffel bag, the only luggage I had, and climbed out of the vehicle. Another elderly looking man, who looked around the same age as Watari, greeted me, taking my hand that wasn't hold luggage into his. He then led me through the open gate, guiding me slowly down the pathway towards the orphanage. The man's name was Roger and he ran the orphanage even though it was founded by Watari. He began to vaguely explain the idea of the orphanage, which was to collect genius children from all over the world and encourage them to work with their full potential to help fill gaps in the science, medical, and investigative fields. The idea that we were supposed to be very smart and it would be dangerous to reveal ourselves led to the discussion of aliases.

"An alias, huh." I mused.

"Yes. You may choose your own alias. A popular thing that is usually done here is to either go by the first letter in your name or a word that starts with the first letter of your name."

I immediately decided that I did not want to referred to as R, so I began to brainstorm ideas. "Realm…"

I thought out loud.

"What was that?" Roger asked, tilting his head down to look at me.

"Realm." I said more firmly.

"Realm, huh? Well it's a pleasure to meet you Realm." He squeezed my hand rather than shaking it as we approached the entrance to my new home. "Now, Realm. Remember that is your name from now on. Anything that has to do with Rachel has to disappear. Anything about her past has to disappear."

"Basically I'm throwing away my old life to start a new one?" I muttered. "Easier said than done."

"You'll manage." Roger sighed, opening the door. "Remember, you're Realm. You must never mention your real name again, even to those you are close to. It's dangerous."

"I understand." I told him, walking into the orphanage.

A large , square counter sat in the middle of the room upon entering, a person working at every side of the counter. On both sides of the room sat a large, wooden staircase that led to the next level. The next level was lined with doors and had a protective wooden railing that connected to the staircase. As I looked up, I noticed there's a third level as well, but I couldn't make out what was there. Roger led me to the counter, smiling at a middle-aged woman was going through some paperwork. "This is Realm. She will be staying here. Can you add her into the information?"

"Of course." the woman replied, turning to her desktop computer and typing quickly. "Okay, it's done."

"Thank you." Roger turned to me, giving me another friendly smile. "Would you like to see your room?"

"Sure." I replied, glancing down at my feet.

Roger took me up to the next floor, which I learned contained all the bedrooms. He led me down a long hallway before stopping at one near the end. "Where are the rest of the kids?" I asked absentmindedly as we came to a stop.

"Eating dinner, they should be done soon. In the meantime, why don't you unpack? You can get to know the children later."

"Sounds like a blast." I mumbled under my breath, opening the door to my new bedroom.

My room number was number 104. Roger handed me my room key, telling me that I must never lose it because you're only trusted with a spare once. The room was fairly simple. It was small, with wooden floors that match the other floors in Whammy's. The walls and ceiling were a plain white. A wooden bunk bed sat pressed against the wall on right side of the room. On the left side, a polished wooden dresser that matched the wood in the bed sat. A desk with a simple lamp was placed in front of the window, a black office chair pressed into it. There was also a white door that I assumed just led into a small closet or bathroom. Roger says every room here at Whammy's is exactly alike, but I'm allowed to personalize it if I wish.

I quickly unpacked my clothes, organizing it by types of clothes. Lingerie was placed in the top drawer, shirts and jeans in the second drawer, pajamas and other lazy clothes in the third, leaving an empty fourth drawer for personal items. I put my word search and crossword puzzle books in the fourth drawer, only taking up a small percent of the space before closing it. "There's everything I own." I mumbled to myself, pulling myself up.

After exploring my room a bit, I discovered it wasn't too empty. If you opened a drawer to the desk, you uncovered a small, silver laptop. The laptop was still a fairly recent invention and the thought of being able to use one sent surges of excitement through me. The white door led to a closet, as expected, but inside was something much more valuable. A small black TV sat inside, its cord wrapped in a small bundle. _A TV and a laptop for every child? This Watari guy…rich is an understatement. _

I made my way to the bunk bed which was already made. It had a maroon twin comforter on top of white sheets and two pillows with maroon pillowcases. Simple. But it's not like that mattered. I leaned back on the soft surface, sighing. I was overwhelmed. Just yesterday my parents had died in a car crash. I survived with only minor injuries, besides my mild concussion. And now I was hundreds of miles away from my hometown in Virginia in some orphanage for gifted children. Even though I was aware of all this, I had to take a moment to allow it to sink in.

A few moments later, I heard the sounds of children laughing and talking outside my door. _Dinner must be over. Might as well go see how many children I'm going to be living with. _I pushed myself up and made my way over to the door, placing my hand on the doorknob and jerking it open.

Roger stood in front of the door, his hand frozen in air as if he was about to knock on it. A boy around my age stood next to him, unnatural wide, dark eyes staring at me. The boy was wearing a loose, white long sleeved. For pants, he wore faded, baggy jeans and from what I could tell, he wasn't wearing any shoes. His black hair hung messily in his face and stuck out in different directions. He looked like he had just woken up from a nap, I concluded.

"Ah, Realm. I was just about to knock." Roger told me, pulling his arm down.

"I can see that." I muttered under my breath, my gaze not leaving the strange boy beside him.

The older man motioned to the boy. "This is L. He's going to show you around the orphanage, right L?"

"Y-yeah." he mumbled, looking down at his bare feet and shuffling them uncomfortably.

"He's a little shy." Roger chuckled. "But I'm hoping maybe you guys could possibly be friends, he doesn't have many."

So I get to go on a tour with the anti-social kid who clearly doesn't want to be anywhere near me? Great.

"But don't let his looks fool you," Roger warned, as if he read my mind. "Intelligence-wise, he's number one here."

My mouth gaped and I noticed a small smile appear on L's face. _How can he be number one? He looks like some kid who slacks off with work and doesn't care for appearance. Well, I don't care for appearance either, but at least I brush my hair at least once a day._

Roger turned and took a few steps away from my door before looking over his shoulder. "I'll leave you two alone for now. Have fun!"

Have fun. Right. I narrowed my eyes, carefully watching the hunched over boy shuffle in the opposite direction of Roger. "This way." he said monotonously.

I obeyed, staying a few feet behind him as we traveled down the hallway. "All of the children here sleep on this floor. Most children are given a roommate, but there are some exceptions, such as myself."

"I see." I muttered, not bothering to mention that Roger already told me this earlier.

"So, how old are you?" L asked bluntly as we made our way to the staircase to the third floor.

"Nine." I answered. "How about you?"

"Eleven."

Eleven? He doesn't look remotely older than me! "Really? I never would have guessed." I commented calmly, despite my inner emotions.

"Yes, I'm quite small for my age." L replied, placing his hand on the railing and pulling himself up the stairs.

"How long have you been here?" I asked, following behind him up the stairs.

"Since I was eight. I was one of the first children brought here by Watari."

"Must have been empty." I muttered absentmindedly as I walked up the last stairs.

The third floor looked identical to the second. There were doors lining the hallways with a wooden railing wrapping around until it was connected to the staircase. This floor, however, appeared abandoned with not a single child in sight.

"This floor is the school." L told me, his tone dull. "Classes start at 7:30 in the morning and end at 2:00 in the afternoon. You build your class schedule around a chosen career path, which is determined by your answers on your IQ test. I believe I heard yours is Criminal Investigation?" He cast me a sideways glance. "That's my career path as well. As I was saying, attendance to your classes is necessary unless you have a note from the infirmary, which is on the first floor."

Criminal Investigation? That's what my future was? I never really got into anything like that. I considered myself more of the doctor type, not solving crimes. But the scores don't lie, and if that's what I'm going to be most successful in, I might as well accept it. I mentally sighed and turned back to L.

L, after studying me for a moment, abruptly turned around and started back down the stairs, his head bent down and his gaze fixed on the floor. I grumbled and followed behind him.

At least now I will have some competition. _Competition… _I watched the boy shuffling off the stair case in front of me. Was he really that smart? Smarter than me? If he is, he hasn't shown me yet.

There was a large amount of children of all ages playing with each other in front of us. L paid no attention to them, simply pushing through a group or stepping over those who were beneath him. A few of them gave him scowls, throwing insults his direction. I paid no attention to them, Roger did say he wasn't exactly popular. But I was shocked when one of them stuck their leg out and tripped the strange boy. He hit the ground hard, and I winced as he did so. L simply shook it off, however, pulling himself up without a word before continuing down the hallway.

Rage bubbled up inside me. He was tripped, fell flat on his face, yet continues walking without a word to the kid who caused him pain? I whipped around towards the boy, who was laughing and pointing at L. "Are you that shallow? You get entertained by picking on him like that?"

L stopped walking and looked back at me, surprised. The boy stopped laughing and looked up at me. "What, it was funny. No one likes him anyway, all he ever does is hide in his room by himself!"

"And that gives you the right to pick on him? He probably hides in his room because he's scared of being picked on by the likes of you!"

"Realm…" L started, turning towards me. "Please, it's quite alright. I'm not in pain."

The boy sneered at me. "What, are you defending him? Go ahead, we'll just trip you too!"

I clenched my fists, enraged. "How dare you?! He's done nothing to you, neither have I!"

"Realm…" L repeated, louder this time. "Hitting him will only make you as bad as he is."

I looked down at my hands, noticing I had formed fists in my anger. I unclenched my fists slowly, looking over at L from the corner of my eye. He smiled slightly, but it quickly faded. "I still have to show you the bottom floor…"

I nodded, shooting the boy a glare before catching up with L.

"Look, guys! L made a friend!" the boy shouted as I caught up with the raven haired boy.

Laughter erupted from the children behind me and I felt me face grow hot with embarrassment. If I wasn't against harming others to get my point across, a lot of these children wouldn't be conscious to laugh.

I shook my head, putting the thought behind me as I followed closely behind L. "I'm sorry."

"…Don't be." L said, gripping the railing loosely as he began to walk down the stairs.

I gave the boy a sad look. Sure, he was a freak. But he wasn't that bad, from what I could tell. If anything, he was simply misunderstood.

L led me past the front room and through two double doors beside the entrance. Square tables dotted a large room, each with a white tablecloth thrown over it. The small of spaghetti hung in the air, and some of the tables were littered with plates smeared with sauce or unfinished food. "This is the cafeteria. Breakfast is at 7:00 in the morning, lunch is at 12:30 in the afternoon, and dinner is at 6:30 at night."

He shuffled over to the end of the room, pointing loosely out a large window. "That's the courtyard. There is a collection of toys and activities to amuse yourself with, so if you're the athletic type, I would suggest taking a look at these."

L stood there for a moment, gazing out the window absentmindedly. I tipped my head thoughtfully, observing him. He was hunched over, his hands in his jean pockets, his hair hanging loosely in his face. He was quite strange, but that is what fascinated me. This raven-haired boy was more intelligent than I was. It sparked a feeling of rivalry in me, gave me the determination to prove myself. It might have just been jealousy, but either way. L was going to be my unspoken competition.

I smiled slightly before taking a few steps forward so that I was standing beside L. "Something bothering you?"

L blinked in surprise, turning his blank stare towards me. "No, it is nothing. I was just thinking…" he trailed off, his gaze falling to the floor.

"Uh… L?"

L's gaze snapped back up again. "Oh. I apologize. Please, let us continue."

He began to walk out of the cafeteria, his gaze fixed on the ground again.

December 10, 1993

I fell backwards on L's soft bed, breathing out a sigh of boredom. After the tour, we had begun to talk more, and since the rest of my roommates (I suppose you would call them.) didn't particularly like me for sticking up for L, we became friends. We didn't talk much, didn't do much. We just enjoyed each other's company, which is enough for me.

I had learned more about L during the 3 month time period. His mother died giving birth to him. That was particularly sad, but at least he didn't get to know his parents before he lost them. The whereabouts for his father was unknown, since he left around the time his mom got pregnant, leaving him alone. He had stayed at several orphanages in his lifetime, but he felt Watari was the only one who seemed to actually care for him.

I had also traded the information of my own tragedy, which didn't seem to bother L much. Well, nothing bothered L much. But that's fine, I didn't like emotional people anyway.

"Hmm…" L mumbled, drawing me out of my thoughts. "What is your opinion on this, Realm?"

I sat up and leaned over L, who was crouching beside his bunk bed in a child-like fashion. The case of a nearby murder was on L's screen and he was examining it intently. "How did you get those?"

"Watari," L answered bluntly, his eyes not leaving the screen. "I would like your thoughts on these files."

That's something else I had learned. L had a knack for mysteries and puzzles; mostly just crimes and things similar with crimes. He had spent the last month trying to solve this one case without any police information, which I had told him was impossible. But now that he had it, maybe he could see how hard detective work really was. "I'm not sure. I'm not a detective."

"I'm aware of that. Neither am I. Can you not get anything from this?"

"You're the one trying to solve the case, not me." I muttered, leaning back on his bed.

"Yes, that is true. But every detective has a partner."

"You want me to be your accomplice in solving murder cases? I'll pass."

"…That is fine. But I would like your thoughts every now and then, considering you are second only to me."

It was true. I had quickly climbed the ranks here at Whammy's and soon I took my place beneath L. But no matter how hard I tried, I could never do better than him. I never saw him study, I never saw him paying close attention in class, or anything of the sort. So how did he stay better than me?

"Fair enough." I replied, laying my left arm against my forehead, trying to fight a headache. "Why don't you take a rest from that case? It's affecting your health."

L turned only his head to look at me, the rest of his body facing the laptop. I could make out the bags forming under his eyes, an obvious result from staying up for countless amounts of nights. "I do not see what you mean. I feel fine." he argued, his voice it's usual monotone that I had grown used to.

"Your _eyes_, L." I motioned under my eyes with my two index fingers. "You have bags under them."

L looked into the reflection of the laptop for a moment, before replying, "So I do."

I groaned. "_So, _it's a result from sleep deprivation. This stupid case has kept you up at night, hasn't it?"

"I do not find this case stupid, people have been murdered."

"L, you're getting off topic."

"I have been staying up at night, yes. But I feel fine. If something comes up, I'll go to the infirmary. You have no reason to worry."

"Fine." I muttered, waving my right hand to dismiss it. "But if you ever collapse from exhaustion…"

"Then you were right." L interrupted. "But nothing of the sort has occurred yet, so don't put too much thought into it."

_It doesn't mean it couldn't happen._ I sighed. Arguing with L was like arguing with a wall. You didn't get anywhere. A few moments later, the sound of the bell began chiming repeatedly throughout the orphanage, marking the time for dinner. I pulled myself up, popping my back as I slipped off L's bed. The raven haired boy, however, continued to crouch in front of the laptop. "L, it's time for dinner."

"I'm aware of that."

"So, let's go."

"I'm fine."

I narrowed my eyes. L had skipped breakfast _and _lunch, filling in for his meals with a pile of cookies or a bowl of sugar cubes. "You've eaten nothing but sweets all day. And you have only left your room for classes."

"I know. Solving a case, however, requires dedication and thinking that I simply cannot achieve in a crowd of noisy kids." L murmured softly, his eyes fixed on the words in front of him.

I grabbed a L's baggy sleeve, giving it a tug. "I don't care, you're coming to dinner." I said firmly.

L hesitated, giving me a blank, yet thoughtful look before going straight from his crouching position into his hunched, standing position. "As you wish, Realm." he muttered dryly.

The pair traveled down the hallway side by side, mixed in with the crowd of children making their way to the same destination. I glanced over at L. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, his back arched slightly and his eyes unfocused and full with thought. I let out an inaudible sigh at the sight. The pressure from wanting to solve this case was taking its toll on him, yet he didn't seem to mind. The bags that were forming under his eyes, his back arching from sitting in that crouched position all the time, detached from his surroundings because his thoughts are on capturing the culprit… To be in his position seemed like hell. But he seemed to like it, for some unknown reason, so I let it go.

"I think I am close to solving the case." L said out of no where, a hint of arrogance in his monotone.

I gave him a questioning glance. "Why do you say that?"

"I could show you if I had my laptop with me, but there is an overwhelmingly large amount of evidence. I am quite surprised the police didn't notice." L replied with a confident look in his eyes.

"If it's that obvious, the police had to have noticed it. Solving cases like this is their job after all." I pointed out.

"I have all the case information. It says nothing about what I discovered."

I sighed, walking into the cafeteria. "Well, maybe you did find something. I'm not sure, like I said before, I'm no detective."

We took a seat in the corner of the cafeteria, the smell of the lit candle in the table's center wafting over to my nose. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I didn't enjoy smell such a strong fragrance when I ate, since the two flavors normally conflicted very strongly. I blew out the candle with a simple blow, a puff of smoke traveling up as it went out. "Not a fan of candles?" L asked, staring at the smoking wick.

"I can't stand the smell when I eat. It's distracting." I muttered, resting my hand in my palm while twirling a strand of my blonde locks with the other.

"I suppose one could find it distracting." L agreed, nibbling softly on his thumb nail as a man in a suit strolled over to their table.

Two glass plates were balanced in his two hands, and he placed each in front of the pair. I looked over the meal thoughtfully. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. I scooped a spoonful of macaroni, bring the cheesy pasta up to my watering mouth. I watched as L toyed with his roast beef using a fork that was gripped tightly between his index finger and his thumb. Then, he reached over his arm and plucked several sugar packets out of a basket at the end of the table. I watched in disbelief as he ripped the package and poured the sweet crystals all over his dinner before finally taking a bite. "You've got to be kidding me."

L chewed ignorantly. "Sugar helps calm the nerves."

I shrugged, sighing as I took another bite. "I find the combination of sugar and your dinner to be utterly distasteful."

"Really? I find it delightful. Though cake sounds more appetizing at the moment…" He trailed off as he ripped another packet and poured it over his mashed potatoes.

"That was your lunch."

"Indeed it was."

I nearly slapped my forehead. How can he not see his eating habits to be unnatural? You can't keep all that sugar inside of you without gaining a few pounds. But upon observing L, he kept a near skeletal figure despite his high calorie diet. Only L could pull off something like that.

We ate quietly, occasionally making remarks on the tastes or 'how one's odd eating habits are natural to another'. I watched in the corner of my eye as a white blob traveled over my head and splat against the wall, missing L's head only by a couple inches. L shuffled his feet around before bringing a slender finger up to the white mess, scooping it up thoughtfully and bringing it to his mouth. I grimaced.

"Mm. Mashed potatoes." He turned his head in an unnatural-looking way to look at me. "I wonder who threw it?"

"Dammit, I missed!" No longer than L finished speaking we heard a cry of disappointment from behind us. We both moved our gazes behind us, eyeing a boy sitting a few tables away. It was the same boy who tripped L months before. "I won't miss this time…"

The boy scooped up a handful of macaroni before hurling it towards us. This time it hit me square in the face. The gooey food covered my eyes, blurring my vision that was already blurred with anger and sticking to my long, blonde hair. I felt my body tense with anger, my mouth twitching to keep from screaming in outrage. Pieces of macaroni slowly slid off my face and landed in my lap.

"Come on, Fierce. She didn't deserve that, and neither does L." a girl called from somewhere in the dining hall. The low murmur that used to fill the room vanished, leaving an uncomfortable silence.

Fierce scowled. "Please. She's just as bad as L is."

"You're just jealous because they're smarter than you are!" another orphan chimed in.

"Me? Jealous of those freaks? Ha!" the boy scoffed. "I'm more jealous of the lab rat in the Biology classroom than them."

"Then act like it." I snapped, every head turning at the sound of my voice. L said nothing about the unfolding argument, only watching with interest as he nibbled on his finger.

"What'd you say?" Fierce asked, sneering at me as he hurled his roast beef.

It slammed against my black shirt before hitting the ground with a thud. My fingers twitched, resisting the urge to form fists.

"You have wasted your entire dinner by throwing the contents of your plate at us." L remarked, looking at the chunk of meat on the ground. "Was it worth it?"

"You shut it." he growled.

"Not a good argument. It sounds like you can't think of a reason to back your actions, yes?"

"L…" I whispered, eyeing the fists the other boy was making. "Careful, he might hit you."

Fierce was seething in anger, his fists clenched tightly. "I told you to shut it."

Cold, tense silence. L didn't reply, only keeping his calculating gaze on the angry boy.

"Food fight!~" a girl called out moments later, breaking the silence by throwing a glob of mashed potatoes at Fierce's face.

_Splat! _I smirked at the satisfying noise. Apparently there were some here who didn't view L and I as a separate species. Several cheers rang out in the dining hall before erupting into a loud frenzy as food was thrown through the air.

L and I crept out the messy battlefield, missing the globs of food only by a hair. Once we were out of the cafeteria, I sighed. "I swear sometimes…"

"I know," L interrupted, nodding slightly. "But reacting will only give him what he wants. He was getting angry like that because I was calm about the situation."

"You're right." I agreed, gripping the railing as I pulled myself up the stairs.

L and I stood at the top of the stairs for a while, staring at the floor. He was most likely thinking about the criminal, but I was thinking about other things. Like what all had happened in the last three months. Between classes to laying in L's room doing nothing all day, it had definitely been the most fun I've had in my entire life. And we've done nothing. I glanced up at the raven-haired genius. _So this is what it's like… To have a friend? Someone who's equal to you?_ _Someone you like to share your company with? Sure I've had friends before, but this was different… _"You should go wash up. Your face is covered in cheese." L remarked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Oh… Right," I said dumbly. "And you should work on proving your theory."

"Already done, I just have to contact Watari. Speaking of which, I should go do that now." L turned and began to shuffle away in the direction of his room, his toes poking out of his faded jeans.

"Okay, I'll come by your room later." I called.

He stopped. "Yes, of course. I'll see you then, Realm."

December 25, 1993

"Realm, wake up. It's Christmas." L's low voice brought me out of my sleep. I rubbed my eyes, glancing around warily. "I fell asleep in your room?"

"Yes, I didn't notice you were still here until around three in the morning, but you were sleeping so peacefully it seemed wrong to wake you." the boy explained.

"Err… Right." I mumbled, stretching as I slipped off L's bed. "Any information on the case?"

"The police are still reluctant to take my word for it," L sighed, scratching the back of his head and causing his hair to stick up even more. "Watari is trying to convince them. I can't say I blame them, I wouldn't trust the deduction of a twelve year old either, but still. My IQ scores should suggest otherwise."

I nodded in agreement, attempting to fix my hair in the reflection of L's laptop. "How is Christmas done here?" I mumbled absentmindedly, licking a finger to smooth the unruly bed-head down.

"All the children meet in the dining hall, which has temporarily been transformed into… Christmas-land, so to speak." L replied, unable to come up with an intelligent word for the transformation. "You'll see it when we get down there. The bell should ring any-"

_Ding… Ding… Dong…Ding… Ding…Dong…_

The hollow bell rang throughout the orphanage. I had gotten used to it's church-like sound, and found the sound quite soothing. L seemed quite the opposite, fidgeting or running his hand through his hair uncomfortably whenever the bell chimed. Today he was staring down at the ground, shuffling his feet over each other. I tipped my head slightly before shrugging. "Come on, the other kids are going to beat us there. And Fierce could do something nasty to our presents…"

"No worries. Watari will be delivering our presents to us personally."

Delivering them to us personally? Well, we were the top two. I noticed excitement gleaming in those normally dull eyes of his at the thought of seeing Watari. L considered Watari his parent figure, and I found that he cherished every moment he had in person with him. I wish I had something like that, but deep down I knew there was no replacing the parents I had known for nine years.

L started towards the door. "Even though Watari is giving us our presents, we should still go. They have a large buffet of foods down there and there's a ninety percent chance they have something sweet."

I chuckled slightly, following in behind him. "If you say so."

I gasped slightly upon walking into the dining hall. A large, 20 foot tall beautifully decorated Christmas tree sat in the middle of the large room. Piles of presents surrounded the tree, all neatly wrapped in red, silver, and green wrapping paper. To the right of a tree, a long table sat, covered with containers of a variety of food. I followed L's gaze to a layered cake that was decorated with green and red ornaments made out of icing. Without a word to me, he shuffled over to the table, picking up a paper plate with his two index fingers and thumbs before taking a slice of the cake. Children rushed around me, shoving me to the side in excitement to get to their presents. They all stood in a large crowd in front of Roger, staring up at him eagerly. I reached behind me to pick up a sugar cookie, nibbling at it thoughtfully as I watched Roger quiet the children with just a raise of his hand. "Alright, children. I know you are all excited about getting your Christmas presents, but remember not to open them until you get into your room. We wouldn't want anyone stealing them. Now we'll start with ages 4-6. Who's 4, 5, and 6?"

Several small children broke away from the crowd and went to kneel in front of the tree, collecting their presents in their arms. "Okay, now 7, 8, and 9?"

I nearly moved towards the tree myself, but was quickly reminded that my presents were with Watari. I felt a small, timid tug on my sleeve. I moved my gaze beside me. L was standing there, pointing loosely out the window at a formal-looking old man making his way to the entrance of the orphanage. He had four presents wrapped in his arms. "Let's go meet him at the door." I offered.

L nodded. "I was going to say the same thing."

We left the busy room and stood at the old, wooden doors, awaiting the arrival of the founder of the orphanage. L grabbed the door with his spidery fingers, pulling it open and letting in a gust of winter air. Watari walked in, giving L and I a warm smile. "Merry Christmas L and Realm," he greeted. "I'm glad to see you two are getting along."

"Yes, Realm is a good friend."

I shot a surprised glance at L. He had never said something like that about me before. He never said something about that to anyone. I was touched, but I kept a serious expression. "You're a good friend too, L."

L smiled shyly at me as he took the presents from Watari. "Thank you."

"Now, regarding the case, the police still aren't cooperating. Do you think it's possible for you to come up with more solid evidence, L?"

"I can try, but if they just listen to me they would have it solved sooner." L replied, irritation flashing in his dark eyes.

"L, it's okay if you can't. You're only twelve; don't be insulted if you can't solve a murder case." I muttered, taking my two presents out of L's hands.

"It's not that I can't solve it it's that they won't trust my deduction." L argued. "I am ninety-eight percent sure I am right."

"Ninety-eight percent, huh." I sighed under my breath.

L crouched down, placing his presents in front of him. Changing the subject, he looked up at me saying, "Let's open our presents, Realm."

"But didn't Roger say to open them in our rooms?"

"It's fine."

"If you say so."

Watari bowed politely. "I'm going to speak with the other children now. I hope you like your presents."

"Thank you, Watari." we said in unison.

I crouched beside L, choosing the bigger of the two presents. It was from L. I looked at him in surprise before unwrapping it. It was a small cake in the shape of a cloister black L. It was painted with black icing, giving it a glossy finish. "Do you like it? I crafted it myself."

L was studying my face, his eyes looked hopeful. "It's amazing, L. How did you make it? I'm with you almost all the time."

"Remember that day I refused to go to lunch?"

"Ah, I see." I nodded and looked down at the cake. "I'm sure it will taste great. Open yours."

L tore the wrapping paper timidly, using only his index finger and thumb as usual. When he was finally done, a container of ripe, red fruit was visible. "Strawberries?" L asked, looking up at me confused.

I shrugged. "It's the sweetest thing I could think of that's actually good for you."

"I see…" L opened the container and plucked a strawberry out, holding it out in front of his face to inspect it before taking a small bite.

His face lit up as he chewed. "Not bad."

I chuckled before ripping open my only other present, which was from Watari. He had given me a large book of word searches. I smiled, reminding myself to thank him later. L had gotten a box of expensive chocolates, which L put beside him to continue eating the strawberries.

"Like them?"

"They are quite tasty. Next time I will make a note to order strawberry cake for my snack." he murmured dreamily. "That would be delicious."

"…Just try to substitute the strawberries for cake sometimes. It's healthier."

"I understand."

Though I didn't believe him, I simply nodded.

"Look, guys! It's snowing!"

An excited cry came from inside the dining room beside us. We both turned our gazes out a nearby window. Sure enough, large white flakes had begun to settle on the ground. "Come on, L. Let's go outside!" I exclaimed, jumping up with my gifts in my arms

"I'm fine. I dislike going outdoors." L replied flatly.

"Oh, come on. I bet you haven't had a breath of fresh air in months."

"Actually I got a good amount of fresh air when I let Watari in." L replied indignantly.

"Doesn't count. Come on, we're going to get coats on." I eyed L's bare feet. "And you're going to put some shoes on."

Before L had time to reply, I grabbed his pale hand a pulled it forcefully, pulling him up the wooden staircase.

"Realm does not have to pull my arm out of its socket to make me go upstairs." L told me as we made our way to the top.

"You wouldn't have came if I didn't."

"That is true. But even if, it's still my decision."

"I made your decision for you. Go put shoes and a coat on, I'll meet you at your room in 5 minutes."

I raced down the hall, not giving L time to reply. Even though I secretly hated going outside myself, snow was the exception. It was beautiful, the way it sparkled in the sunlight and stuck to the tree tops and blanketed the ground. Even if it was just a short walk, I was determined to make L enjoy it. Besides, it will be a good rest on his mind that has been so focused on the murder case lately.

I slipped on a heavy purple winter coat and black gloves and scarf, observing my appearance in the mirror before giving myself an approving nod.

When I left my room, I discovered I wasn't the only child moving to enjoy the gift from nature. Several other children raced past me, shouting eager cries about how there's so much snow that you can't see the grass anymore. I pushed my way past all of them. L was standing in his doorway, watching the other children dully. He was wearing a black coat, black gloves, and even a pair of old tennis shoes. "I don't like this."

"You look fine, come on, let's go." I grabbed his hand again and began tugging it lightly.

L gave in and began to walk quickly with me. I kept my grip on his hand, which was strangely cold despite the warm temperature inside the orphanage. "You are excited about going outside." L observed. "The snow isn't going anywhere, there's no need to rush."

I ignored him as I pushed out the front entrance. The frosty wind began nipping painfully at my face, but I didn't care. The view was enough to distract me. "Look, L! Isn't it beautiful?"

I pointed to the white, sparkling open space around them that was normally green. The sky, which was a pale gray, was continuing to drop the white flakes, creating a beautiful winter scene.

L nibbled thoughtfully at his finger. "I suppose one could find it pretty. But the cold is getting in the way of my positive feelings for it."

"Give it a chance." I told him, pulling him further into the snowy field.

The snow came up to my ankles, making a crunching sound with every step.

"The snow is seeping through my shoes." L complained.

I glanced down at his feet behind me, noticing he was wearing any socks. "Why aren't you wearing socks?"

"I don't like them."

I mentally sighed, shaking my head slightly. "Come on, let's build a snowman."

"A snowman?" L repeated thoughtfully.

"Yes. You know how to make them, right?"

"I could give it a try, but no, I've never made one before."

That didn't surprise me, seeing how secluded he was from everyone else and his tendency to stay indoors. I released L's hand and knelt down to mold a large snow ball in my hands. "Now watch."

I rolled it in the snow around me, causing it to gradually increase in size. Soon I had a rather large snowball that was taking up so much snow the grass was poking through. I smoothed it out before turning back the raven-haired boy. "There, that's the bottom. Try making the middle."

L crouched down and began carefully molding his own snow ball. Though, unlike me, he didn't roll it. He continued adding more snow onto it, occasionally rounding it out with a few swipes of his hands. After a while, he had crafted a decent sized snowball, which he scooped up and presented to me. "I changed your methods slightly, but I think the end result is still the same."

I nodded and took the snowball from him. I placed it on top of the bottom before adding the head that I constructed while L was making the middle. "It seems empty." the boy behind me observed. "We should decorate it."

"Yes." I agreed. "I'll find some rocks, you get two branches."

After the two had found their requested items, they met back at their sculpture. I pressed two, dark gray rocks of similar sizes into the head of the snowman. A handful of smaller rocks created a silly-looking smile, and I stepped back to marvel my work. L looked down at his branches in his hands before sticking each of them into both sides of the middle portion, creating arms. I smiled, taking off my black scarf and wrapping it around the snowman's neck. "…Perfect."

The pair stood beside each other for a few moments and observed their work, ignoring the shouts from the other children playing behind them. After a few minutes, I turned to L. "We can go back in if you want to."

L shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the snowman. "No, let's stay out here a little longer."

I smiled. "Having second thoughts about going outside?"

"It's more enjoyable when you're with a friend." L replied simply.

April 24, 1995

"L, I have another case for you."

"Send it through."

I glanced over at the teenager hunched over in front of his laptop, the same way he sat when he solved his first case. The police were incredulous, but because we had to keep our identities a secret, the story didn't make headlines. Instead, people told the public a mysterious detective who went by L solved the case. And the alias stuck.

L has solved countless cases after that, each slightly increasing in difficulty. I didn't see how he did it, but I never questioned him. "What is it this time?" I asked absentmindedly.

"A double murder in a small town in Alabama." L replied bluntly. I heard typing and clicking before the genius said, "And it looks like a passion killing."

"Passion killing?"

"Yes. If it was a random murder, they wouldn't have mutilated the body this much. They must have known the victims."

I looked over his shoulder, examining the photographs of a young man and woman, each covered with stab marks and bruises. They were laying in a pool of their own blood and had their throats slit. I winced, feeling my own throat. "Painful."

"They didn't feel all of this. 80 stab marks on the woman, 85 on the man. No human would live through that much trauma, not to mention the cut on the jugular vein and the severe beating."

"Even if, it's still painful to look at."

"That's why I must solve it."

I glanced over at my new wristwatch L had gotten me for my eleventh birthday. The time read 12:45 PM. "L, classes start again in 20 minutes."

L looked down at his own clock on his laptop, frowning in disappointment. "So they do"

"You stay up all night, I'm sure you'll have it solved by tomorrow."

L looked over his shoulder at me with now very dark and very visible bags under his eyes. He was now classified as an insomniac, a very severe one at that. But he refused medication, saying his body only needs an hour of sleep to work properly. "Yes, you are right. Come, let's go. We can beat the other children there."

I nodded, sitting up off of the sugar addict's bed. Speaking of sugar… I frowned at the collection of candy wrappers and sugar crystals that surrounded L's sitting area. The teenager ate like a couch potato, but kept the physique of something between a starving child and average weight. He did play tennis when was bored, and was quite good at it, but it was no where near enough exercise to fight the calories. It was as if he kept a bread and water diet. I examined my own slim appearance, but even my body wasn't as skinny as L's. And I ate one meal a day.

"Realm, are you coming?"

I nodded and walked over to the boy who was standing in the doorway, stepping over the candy wrappers and plates. We made our way up the stairs and into our class, Crime Investigative Science, or Investigative Science for short. I discovered we weren't alone as we entered. Roger stood there, holding the hand of younger boy. "This is your current class, Investigative Science- oh, hi there, L and Realm."

I smiled a somewhat fake smile and L just scratched his head, looking to the floor. "This is B, he's going to be taking this class. You two are taking this class too, correct?" We nodded in unison. "Good! Make sure B feels welcome."

Roger released the hand of the younger boy and gave him small pat on the head before walking out of the room. The boy turned around slowly, facing us. His hair was a charcoal black, like L's, and hung loosely in his face. Though, unlike L's, his hair was brushed out and looked almost silky. He wore a long sleeved black shirt that looked almost the same as L's long sleeved white shirt, as well as dark jeans and a pair of black sneakers. His skin was very pale, almost as pale as L's. The only thing that seemed different were his odd, red eyes that were fixed above mine and L's heads, as if he was looking at something that we couldn't see.

L crouched down a looked up at the boy, nibbling his finger softly. B tipped his head before mimicking L's movements, dropping down to a low crouch so that he was face to face with L. He brought his finger up to his mouth like L did and began nipping the skin above the nail. It was as if the two were looking into a mirror.

I stood there uncomfortably, shifting my feet and staring down at the boys who were staring intently into each other's eyes, as if exchanging unspoken words. After about ten minutes of just watching them, I huffed irritably. "Are you guys familiar with each other?"

"No, not at all." L replied simply, his gaze still glued to the other boy's. B nodded at L's statement.

"Then what's with… this?" I gestured towards each of them, but kept my gaze on L. Because B, quite frankly, was slightly scaring me.

"We are simply studying each other. He's quite interesting." L said thoughtfully. "Perhaps as smart as me."

"What? How can you think he's intelligent, he hasn't said a word to you yet."

"It's just a feeling. Besides, I predicted you would be intelligent the first time I saw you as well."

"Sure you did." I muttered, crossing my arms in irritation.

"No need to be so moody, Realm." L said teasingly. "You'll still be my friend."

"What, what are you saying? That you guys are friends after looking at each other for ten minutes straight?"

"Perhaps." L stood back up and offered B his hand. B accepted, allowing L to pull him into a standing position. He mimicked L's hunched position as well, turning to face me. "As I said before, I find him interesting."

"Interesting. Hmph." I pushed my hair out of face irritably.

"It's nice to meet you, B." L greeted, holding his hand out.

"...Yes. It's nice to meet you too, L." the boy replied, his voice somewhat icy.

Chills ran down my spine as I connected the voice to the appearance of the boy. He just screamed unnatural to me. But if L was going to befriend this freak, I had no choice but to accept him.

The bell chimed, marking the start of 6th period. L turned towards the desks. "Come, let's take our seats."

Children began to file into the small classroom, taking their usual seats. I sat next to L a the front of the class, and B sat on the other side of him. The professor (Since we were too intelligent for just simply teachers.) entered the room at the sound of the tardy bell, closing the door behind him. "Good evening, class." he started, walking towards the front of the room. He picked up a piece of chalk and began to write something on the chalkboard. "Today we will be climbing inside the mind of a criminal."

"Climbing inside the mind of a criminal?" someone repeated behind me in a questioning tone.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Our professor didn't like wasting time, and to him, that was a complete waste of 5 seconds.

When he stepped back, he revealed that he had scribbled down the date, his name and the lesson, as usual. "Let's set up the scenario. You just discovered your husband or wife was cheating on you with your best friend. You are so enraged you decide to kill your significant other but, of course, you'd rather not get caught by the police. How would you go about doing this?"

Murmurs began to roll throughout the classroom.

"Strangulation?"

"Burning?"

"Please, poisoning is the easiest way."

"We sound like criminals…"

The professor had an upset look on his face as he suppressed a sigh. His eyes swept over the students once more, this time his face lighting up as he stopped at a particular student. "Ah, yes. Thank you, B, for raising your hand." I let my gaze move over to the strange new student. He had a wicked smile on his face, and his red eyes were flashing with ideas. The room fell silent. "Go ahead, share your thoughts."

B immediately began spilling everything that came to his mind. "First, I would create a solid alibi. Perhaps going to see a movie during the time of the killings, but secretly sneak out an emergency door in the middle of it. Then I would slip on a hair net, so I wouldn't leave hairs, and gloves, so I wouldn't leave finger prints," he paused, smirking slightly. "Of course these wouldn't belong to me, considering the purchase of such items could seem suspicious. But anyway, I'm getting off topic. I would drive to where my wife is located, making sure she isn't in public or near any eye witnesses. I would start buy drugging her secretly, maybe by slipping something into her drink. This is so I wouldn't get any defense wounds when I went in for the kill. Then, I would finish the job by smothering her, being sure to wipe away any possible fingerprints. I then would drive back to the movie and enter as if I had just left for a short break." He concluded with a thoughtful, yet somewhat frightening, look on his face.

"…That is a very descriptive, B." the professor said, taken aback. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you exactly?"

"Twelve." he replied simply. His expression had changed back to a dull one as he fiddled with his thumbs.

"Impressive." the professor praised. "You all could learn something from him. He's new here and I can already see what a fantastic student he's going to be."

I ignored the professor, laying my dark blue eyes on the older boy. Chills ran up my spine once more. Something about him didn't settle well with me.

July 16, 1995

"Therefore, I conclude the murder was committed by a Harold Thompson. I'm sending you the evidence right now." L spoke through his laptop as he typed away.

"Understood. Thank you, as always, L."

A police station in the U.S. hung up with L, leaving silence except for the annoying tapping on the insomniac's laptop. I glanced over jadedly at him, nibbling on a chocolate bar L had been kind to spare. L's popularity had grown. He was know referred to as an intelligent detective whom even the police in the U.S. turned to. I was quite impressed with his reasoning ability, and was slightly ashamed that I took it lightly with his first case.

Along with L's popularity, there's been some other changes as well. B. That creepy little thing. Was in second place now. He completely knocked me out of second within his first month of being here. Now normally I don't get this competitive, though I do hate to lose. But for a character like B to be more intelligent than I am… It sent shockwaves of anger through my body. And if that wasn't enough, the little weirdo was still mimicking L. L wasn't upset by this one bit, but it bothered me. It's as if he wanted to turn into him.

Another new student had been brought here as well. Her name was A, and like B, she was extremely intelligent but reclusive from everyone else. She had long, dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and pale skin. She took third place at Whammy's. Yeah, that's right. I'm in fourth now. This would send me through the roof if it wasn't for the fact that A was so shy and harmless-seeming. I've only spoken to her once, and when I did she looked like she had seen a ghost. She, like L and I, followed the Criminal Investigation career.

L, A, B, and Realm. The four most intelligent students at Whammy's. Me being in fourth.

I sighed in frustration, pulling myself up. "Solved that case already?"

"Yes," L replied, nodding. "It was quite simple."

"Wow, L. You're turning into a celebrity of sorts, you know." I remarked, flipping through a magazine that was laying nearby. " 'A mysterious detective who goes only by L has recently been blessing the world of justice.'" I quoted the article inside, pointing at the cloister black L the sugar addict went by.

"I'm not in this for the popularity, you know." L told me, his eyes not leaving the laptop's screen.

I shrugged and drew the magazine back. "I was just pointing out the impact you're having on the world."

"My impact is simply a dent. There are far greater detectives than myself; I'm only getting the center of attention because I'm 'mysterious'."

I sighed. "Give yourself some credit, will you? You're fourteen years old and you're beating adults as a detective."

"Age has nothing to do with it."

Our conversation was interrupted by Roger's voice over the orphanage's recently installed intercom. "Children, we are going on a field trip to a nearby beach. All children are required to attend unless you have a note from the infirmary. Make sure you are dressed in the appropriate attire and meet in the front room at 2:30. Thank you." _Click! _

I heard cries of excitement ring out in the rooms around us, but I only let out a low groan. I didn't like the beach. It brought back memories of my parents that I longed to forget. L glanced up at me, his stare blank. "Do you not like the beach?"

"My parents and I were on the way to the beach when we got into the car crash." I replied flatly.

"Oh." He shifted his bare feet over each other uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."

I stood up, stretching my muscles that had been sitting in the same position for a while. I felt a satisfying _pop _in my back before replying, "It's fine. I'm going to go change, since Roger said we were supposed to. I'll meet you down at the front room."

L paused, watching me for a moment, before continuing to type. "Alright. See you then."

After arriving at my room, where I only spent a quarter of my time, I yanked open my dresser door. An assortment of clothes sat in a pile in there. I pulled out a simple black tank top and a pair of jean shorts and quickly undressed. I put a light blue bikini on under my clothes just in case I decided to do some swimming. I grabbed a black jacket and threw it over my shoulder and reached for my black backpack, making sure it had a bottle of water, some snacks, and some word puzzles inside. All of my required items were there, so I pulled it over my right arm. Lastly, I slipped on pair of black flip flops. I stared into my reflection, disgusted. I hated wearing any clothes that showed my skin, but I wasn't going to risk dehydration because I was too stubborn to wear the proper clothing. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if L wore his normal attire, even though we were going out in 90 degree weather.

Sure enough, when I met L down in the front room I discovered he was wearing the same white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. I shook my head and let out an exasperated sigh. "L, we're going to the beach. Don't you think you'll get a little uncomfortable in that clothing?"

"Heat doesn't bother me." L replied simply, a finger in his mouth. "And if it's necessary, I can always take off my shirt."

I pictured L's bony frame standing in front of me and imagined his spine sticking out of his back as it curved in the hunched position he stands in. I studied his clothed body, and tried to put two and two together. I shook my head, deciding that trying to picture L shirtless was incredibly irrelevant and inappropriate.

Roger walked in from the dining hall, wearing a Hawaiian print button up shirt, pair of khaki shorts, and a khaki sun hat with sun glasses sitting on top. It was extremely casual for him. "Children," he yelled over the noise. We went immediately silent. "Now, there are two buses parked at the road. Board them immediately and don't wander off. We don't want to lose anyone, now would we?"

A murmur of 'no's' rippled through the crowd. "Good. Now, let's go have fun, shall we?"

The children around me cheered, pushing through the front doors and making a running dash towards the road. I stayed behind with L who decided to walk slowly down the path. I watched him shield his eyes from the sun, his eyes flashing with irritation as he mumbled something about it being too bright. B caught up with us, strolling beside L as we walked down the path. "So what are you going to do, L?" he asked conversationally, which was odd for him. He was looking in the direction of L, but as always, he seemed focused on something else.

"I suppose I'll just lay in the shade," L said, his gaze fixed in front of him even though he was speaking to B. "Try to solve this case without my laptop this time."

"How hard is it to solve those cases? You solve them like they're jigsaw puzzles." genuine interest backed the other boy's tone.

"They are not difficult. They just simply need someone with a decent deduction ability to uncover the truth." L replied simply.

"I see…" B smirked slightly, looking down at his feet. "And what about you, Realm?"

I shrugged. "Probably do what L's doing. Minus the case thing."

"But you are wearing a swimsuit." B pointed out, eyeing the blue strap around my neck.

I covered it defensively. "So? Quit looking at my swimsuit, pervert."

B let out a sigh as if he was hurt, but spoke in that same icy tone, "Why can't you get along with me, Realm? You've never liked me."

I decided I wouldn't dignify his question with an answer, and instead gripped L's hand and pulled him ahead, away from B. "You shouldn't be so harsh, Realm." L observed, a finger in his mouth.

"He _scares _me." I replied. "Have you not noticed his eyes are red? Completely unnatural."

"Perhaps he's an albino?"

I rolled my eyes. "Albinos have white hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. You know that."

"He could have dyed them to feel normal. A lot of albinos do that sort of thing."

"Whatever." I muttered. "He still strikes me as abnormal."

"Don't judge the book by its cover, Realm." L quoted the famous saying, pushing his hands in this pockets and walking ahead of her.

I muttered something under my breath as we approached the gates. I followed L on the second one, taking a seat beside him in the back. I watched as several other Whammy members filed on, quickly filling up the bus. B and A took a seat in front of L and I, to my dismay. A smiled shyly back at us, brushing her hair out of her face before shifting as close to the window as she could get. I managed to smile at her before pulling out a word search and a pen. I opened to a new puzzle, marked "Insects", and began to mark off the names as I see them. "Bird's Wing... Oak Silk Moth… Longheaded Locust… Evening Cicada…" The words came out of my mouth dully as I marked them off. L observed from beside me, his nail chewing becoming quite a distraction. "Realm is quite good at word searches," L commented through his finger. "I prefer to play chess, or maybe sudoku."

I reached down and wordlessly pulled out a sudoku book and pencil and handed it to L. "You come prepared."

"Watari gave it to me. I don't play sudoku much, so you might as well have it." I shrugged, continuing to mark off the names of insects.

"I see…" L mumbled before opening his own book.

We didn't speak the entire bus ride. I finished 10 puzzles and L finished 25. I told him sudoku is easier than word searches and L told me there's no reason to be ashamed that he did more puzzles. I nearly slapped him, which he then proceeded to tell me violence is never the answer. All the while keeping a passive composure, even though his voice was mocking. I don't see how he did it.

We trudged off the bus, landing on the soft sand as we stepped down. I watched as L wiggled his toes around in it, wanting to scold the teenager not wearing shoes. Roger hushed the excited children with the sound of his voice. "This is a private beach rented only for us. Please don't stray from the group. If the buses aren't in your line of sight, you've gone too far. Is that clear?"

Impatient 'Yes's' rang throughout the crowd of orphans. The elderly man grinned. "Alright, go on. Remember, you have three hours."

Roger's sentence was cut off as the roar of cheers and foot steps fill the beach. L and I made our way over to an umbrella, laying out towels and sitting on them. I watched the children splash around in the water, laughing with happiness. I frowned as I observed them. L was continuing to solve sudoku puzzles beside me, but I wasn't really in the mood for puzzles at the moment. I thought about swimming, but L wasn't wearing anything fit for it, so I had to rule that out. Suddenly, and amusing thought slipped into my mind. I almost didn't want to share it because of how pointless it was, but sitting there for hours didn't seem any better. "L, come bury me in the sand." I said, standing up.

"Bury you in the sand?" L repeated absentmindedly, writing down more numbers.

"Yes, come on, it'll be fun." I reached down and wrapped my hand around his spidery one, giving it a tug.

L remained planted on the ground. "That sounds pointless. I'd rather stay here."

I narrowed my eyes and gave him another tug, this one stronger. L sighed and obliged, rising into his hunched position as he allowed me to lead him into the open sun. I crouched down before laying completely, staring up at the teenage boy who stared down at me. "Are you certain you want me to do this?"

"Yes." I replied, scooping up a handful of hot sand and pouring it on my stomach.

L crouched down and began pushing more of sand onto my body. "You have a strange way of entertaining yourself." he observed, covering my hand up.

I snorted. "Better than sitting under an umbrella the whole time."

L didn't reply, simply moving down to my legs and pushing the hot sand over me. The sun glared down on my pale skin, and I was glad I had put on sunscreen or else I'd be on fire right now. After about an hour of working, L finally managed to cover my entire body with a thick layer of sand. Only my head was sticking out. L stood up and observed me blankly. "Entertained?"

I chuckled, shuffling around. "It's warm."

"If you like it so much, Realm, then I'll just leave you here. You won't mind, right?"

I frowned as L began to make his way back to the umbrella. "L!" I whined, trying to break out of the sand that's covering me. L looked back at me, smirking slightly. "Something wrong?"

"You can't just leave me here. I could burn."

"I recall Realm applying sunscreen to herself before she left though…" L murmured in a sarcastic thoughtful tone, tapping his chin lightly as he stare up at the blue sky.

"It could wear off. L!" I protested, managing to shove my hand out from under my sand imprisonment.

L sighed. "Fine, you win, Realm. Though I don't see why you made me go through all of that just to make me dig you out."

I watched him walk back over to me, couching above my body. I coughed slightly, feeling the pressure of his body weight. "The hell? Get off of me."

"I don't weigh that much." L drawled, beginning to trace my body in the sand.

"So? It still doesn't feel good. What if I sat on you?" I countered, throwing a handful of sand on L's lap.

L simply brushed it off. "You weigh more than I do, so I couldn't do much."

I stared blankly at him. "How? I weigh 87 pounds, and you're older than me."

L didn't look up at me as he continued tracing my body in the sand. "I weigh 80."

"Are you anorexic?" I asked dryly.

"Not at all. I just don't gain a lot of weight."

"Sure, your sugar-based diet has nothing to do with it." I replied sarcastically.

"Sugar would make me heavier, wouldn't you think?" the raven-haired teenager asked, finishing the trace of my body. He went to begin tracing on clothes.

"Not if that's all you eat. Your body probably burns all of it just so you function properly, anyway." I muttered.

"I suppose Realm has made a good point." L allowed, finishing the trace in the sand. He paused, staring at his finger that was still in the sand. "Have you ever thought about what you wanted to do with your life?"

I frowned. Now that L mentioned it, it wasn't something I ever really dwelled on. She did follow the Investigative Career, however, so it would probably be something to do with that. "I suppose a forensic scientist, maybe a crime scene detective. Why you asking, L?"

L began to slowly swirl patterns into the sand. "…Would you leave behind those you care about if it was for your future?"

"Not unless I made it so I can see them again." I replied, somewhat concerned. When L didn't say anything else, I reached across my body so I could grab L's hand. "Where are you going with this?"

"Simply being curious, Realm." he said calmly, tensing as I grabbed his wrist.

Something told me to question him further, but I ignored it. "…Alright, L. Come on, dig me out. I don't want you getting sunburned."

October 31, 1995

"Happy birthday, L!" I cheered, wrapping my arms around his pale neck.

He froze at first, before slowly wrapping his spidery limbs around me. "Thank you, Realm."

I pulled away from him, giving him a warm smile. "So, it's your fifteenth birthday. How's about we celebrate by going and collecting as much candy as we can carry?"

I envied L for having his birthday on such a fun holiday. Not only do you get presents, but also a bag of delicious candy. His birthday also seemed to fit him. He was strangely frightening and eerie, and had a sweet tooth at the same time. In the past four years I had known L, he had never denied going out on a trick or treating spree. But today was different. "No, Realm. Not this year. …Can you come and sit in my room with me?"

I frowned. "But today is your birthday! We're supposed to celebrate it, and that's no way to do so."

"Please, Realm." L stared blankly into my eyes, a bit of emotion showing in those deep black orbs. "It's enough for me."

I sighed, grabbing my black backpack that I had prepared for the evening and throwing it over my shoulder. "It's your birthday. If you want to spend it locked in your room, so be it."

He gave me a small smile. A fake smile. "Thank you."

I followed him up the wooden staircase and into his room. I noticed that he had his bags pulled out, probably trying to find a snack or something of that nature. I took my seat on his bed as he crouched down on the floor below me. As usual. I began to kick my feet rhythmically. "Sooo, L. What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm leaving." L said bluntly, his gaze falling to the floor.

I stopped swaying my feet. "You're _what_?"

He didn't answer, his dark eyes seeming to get darker as they expressed a hint sadness. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly, my deep blue eyes glaring into his black ones. "What did you just say? You're leaving?"

"Yes." L said. His gaze was still locked on the floor as he frowned.

"Why?" I demanded, shaking him again. "What reason do you have?"

"I'm going to become the world's greatest detective." L replied simply. His voice didn't have any emotion whatsoever, and when I looked his face over, it was just blank.

I tightened my grip on his shoulders. "But you can do that from here! You've done all your detective work here with no problems, what's the big deal now?"

"I must protect my identity by going into a closed off area, out of the public eye." he murmured. "I'm sorry, Realm. I know this is sudden-"

"Sudden isn't the word!" I yelled. "Do you know what you're doing, leaving me like this? I don't have anyone else!" I shook him again. "Don't you understand that? Tell me you do!"

"Of course I do," L snapped, his voice raising a few notches as he brought his gaze up to mine. "This has been my goal since I was younger, and now it's becoming a reality. Do you want me to abandon my dream?"

I released my grip on his shoulders, sighing. My voice calmed a bit as I replied, "Of course not, I would be bad friend if I said otherwise."

We sat there in silence, my eyes watering but tears were not falling. I couldn't believe that my one and only friend was leaving. And to what? Becoming a stupid detective? I wasn't more important? It was as if he was just throwing me away, like I was nothing. I sighed. "How much longer until you leave?"

"…Tomorrow…" L said quietly, then flinched as if expecting me to lash at him.

I sighed again. "Of course. No forewarnings on that either."

"I wanted to spend my last day here with you." L muttered, unwrapping a mint that he pulled from his pocket and pushing it through his placid lips. "But I seemed to have ruined the moment by breaking the news too soon."

I shook my head sadly. "…I just don't know what I'm going to do…"

L frowned. "There's no reason to feel sad. I haven't left yet, have I?"

"No, but just knowing you are is still sad in itself." I stood up and walked over to the other side of the room, my arms crossed as I stared at the wall. "And you know what's even more frustrating?"

"…"

When he didn't answer, I continued. "You don't even act like you're upset about leaving. I'm very upset, yet you sit there and act like you just lost a piece of candy."

"Realm, that's not fair. You know I don't show emotions well."

"Why not?" My voice raised a few notches as I whipped back around to face him. His head was still down, resting on the top of his knees. His black hair covered up his eyes and some of his face, making it impossible to see what he was feeling. Not that I would find emotion there anyway.

"If I was emotional, then my deductive ability would fall by thirty percent. Emotions cloud rational judgment and are therefore unneeded. If I allowed myself to feel sad about the situation, then I would make the decision that wouldn't be fair on my end. I'm going to pursue my dream, whether you like it or not."

"Gee, I'm glad our friendship of two years doesn't stand in the way of anything." I snapped, my tone heavy with sarcasm. "I really don't get you. Seriously, I don't. And I wondered why you didn't have friends when I first met you."

"Now you're just being hurtful." he said quietly.

"Says the guy who can't feel emotions!" I countered.

L looked up, his eyes full of hurt and anger as he glared at me. "I never said I couldn't feel emotions, I just said I don't show them well. Realm, if you're just going to make this harder on me, then please leave."

I sighed, trying to allow myself to calm down. I walked over to the raven-haired teenager and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any of that. Let's just start this over, celebrate your birthday right." I pulled away, staring into his black orbs and smiling a warm smile. "We can go and trick-or-treat out of the classrooms, and then join the rest of the children in the cafeteria for the Halloween banquet. Just like every year."

L smiled a small smile. "That would be nice."

L and I


	3. Chapter 3

Misa's face brightened up as she saw Light slip into their apartment. Her perfection, her everything. He'd been gone for a few days now, it had worried her. After all, her Light was in a battle with Kira. Any day could mean certain death.

She scrambled off the bed to skip across the room and meet Light at the door. She flashed her best, "I missed you so much!" smile that she's been using a lot lately as she clung on to his arm. "Light, I've been so worried!" she said, nuzzling into his neatly pressed outfit. "You need to tell me when you plan on staying out for a few days, all right? Even a girl starring in American movies needs her boyfriend once in awhile!"

Light smiled a plastic smile before prying her from his arm. "Sorry, Misa. Work's been catching up to me, so I've been staying with the task force."

Misa seemed slightly disappointed at being separated from her lover, but her glee didn't die down. "You work so much Light! It must be exhausting," Being the caring and considerate girlfriend that Misa is, she ran over to the bed and pulled back the covers. "Come on, you need to rest! And I want to spend some time with you."

Light smiled a small smile again before shaking his head. "Sorry, Misa. I just came back to get a change of clothes."

Misa's face was downcast as she heard this. "Whaaa?! You're leaving again?" she complained, jumping off the bed and tackling Light. She wrapped her hands around his waist and leaned her head into his chest, hearing the rhythm of his heart as she looked up at him. That's when something seemed suspicious. Wafting off of her boyfriend's formal outfit was a sweet-smelling perfume. It was unlike any perfume that Misa had, and even more worrisome, it appeared fresh, as if he had just hugged a woman earlier today. Why would he be hugging any woman other than her? She mentally frowned. _Stop it, Misa. Light trusts you to be alone and not cheat, so you have to return the favor. I am a movie star after all; Light must be very loyal to me. I feel bad for suspecting him. _

The actress nuzzled into his chest with this thought and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Can't you just stay for tonight, Light? I miss spending time with you."

Light returned Misa's hug lovingly, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. She could smell the perfume even more intensely now and she couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy. "Not tonight, all right? I promise when I'm not so busy we'll go on a date. But the task force needs me now," He withdrew from her and put his hands on her shoulders, making eye contact as he smiled a warm smile. That smile always made her melt. It was as beautiful and sweet as Light himself. "You understand, right?"

Misa opened her mouth to debate further, but promptly closed it. She attempted to smile and look happy as she replied, but her eyes were clearly disappointed and unhappy, "Of course, Light. You're always so busy."

Her boyfriend's chocolate eyes gave her a warm stare. "Cheer up, there's no reason to be so upset, all right? I promise we'll go out to eat as soon as I get back," Light released Misa's shoulders before strolling over to the bathroom. Misa's gaze follow him curiously as he looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to take a quick shower to freshen up. Can you set out an outfit for me?"

Set out an outfit _for _him? Light never let's her do that! She had tried before, but Light said that Misa didn't share the same "tastes" as he did. Misa should have deemed this strange, but instead she bounced a little and chirped, "Of course, Light! I'll make you look even more perfect than you are already," She paused to giggle, covering her mouth with her small hand shyly. "if that's possible."

Light smiled as well as he peeled off his formal outfit and neatly folding it on the bathroom counter. Misa wanted to reach out and touch Light's perfect skin, but Light was very specific on when to get intimate. She could tell he was stressed right now, so it wasn't the best time. Once he was completely stripped, he wrapped a fluffy, white towel around his waist. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

Misa barely heard him. She was already meticulously picking through Light's attire, pulling out a neatly-pressed black jacket she never sees her boyfriend wear. She set it to the side before picking out a white-button down shirt and gently placing it beside the jacket. She heard the shower start at this point, so she started to hurry, adding black dress pants to the outfit.

"Okay, ties, ties, ties…" Misa muttered to herself, shuffling through Light's wardrobe. "Where does he keep his ties…?" She shrugged and rose from where she was kneeling in front of the dresser. "Oh well, I'll just go get the one he was wearing. It can't be that dirty."

With this, Misa made her way over to the bathroom door. She immediately spotted the blotch of red amongst his neutral clothing and moved to retrieve it. As he hand hovered over it, however, she heard a voice from inside the bathroom. Raising an eyebrow, she pressed her ear against the door, _Light talks to himself? No… That isn't like him. _Her brows furrowed. _It sounds like he's talking to someone… But the shower is on; how is he on his cell phone?_

"Don't worry, I'll be right over," Misa heard Light promise.

Ah, must be the task force. But he just left, what is so important that Light needs to call them before he showers? She got slightly suspicious as she heard Light speak again after a pause.

"I have to go back every now and then. Misa would get suspicious, remember?"

Suspicious? Worried, yes, but _suspicious? _Did Light think Misa didn't trust him?

After another pause, Light spoke again, "Soon."

Another pause.

"Because, she's useful in the media and pop culture."

_Is Light talking about me? With who? _She didn't dwell on it for long, considering the next words made her furious and saddened.

"No, of course not. You know you're the only one fit to be goddess of the new world."

God_dess_? As in, female? Light's talking to a woman? As far as Misa knew, there weren't any female officers on the task force. So who is this woman Light was addressing as, "goddess of the new world"? And the "new world"? What did he mean…?

"I have to go, Kiyomi. I'll see you in an hour."

_Kiyomi? That's a girl's name! Light's going to see a girl? Without telling me? _Misa felt the anger and hurt strengthen as her hand tightened around the tie. _Why am I not enough? What does she have that I don't? _Misa took in a deep breath and exhaled. _Okay, Misa. Calm down. Maybe this is all a big misunderstanding. I can follow him when he leaves to make sure he doesn't go see a woman before getting worked up like this. _Misa smiled as she tried to reassure herself. "Yes… I need to trust Light more," she whispered to herself, picking the red tie up and walking back over to their bed.

About ten minutes later, Light stepped out of the shower. He had the towel wrapped around his waist like when he first went in, but now his golden hair was plastered to his face as it dried. Misa gave him a big grin as if nothing bad had happened and proceeded to give him another tight hug. It was times like this that Misa enjoyed: when it was just her and Light. No taskforce members to interrupt them, no other fellow business men or detectives- just Light all to herself. It seemed to be a rare occurrence lately, so Misa took every chance to be with Light like it would be her last one. And if Light ended the evening on a bad note, it just might be today.

Misa was an excellent actor. She had to be considering she starred in American productions. So using her acting skills to fool Light was nothing too difficult for her. They played out the next thirty minutes watching TV and catching up, but Misa would catch Light glancing every so often at the door, as if anticipating his departure. The same uneasiness and anger came washing over her like before, but she just continued to act like the bubbly girlfriend Light knew her as.

Half an hour later, Light left for "work". Misa smiled and waved in farewell, saying she can't wait until she sees him again. Pfft. Yeah, right. Misa slammed the door as soon as Light pulled out of sight and ran over to her laptop. Light had put a tracker on his car so Misa knew where he was at all times, and that if he stayed in one place for more than three days than something bad happened to him. The blinking icon was moving across the screen slowly, following Light's every action. Light had told Kiyomi that he would be meeting her in an hour, and Misa spent thirty minutes with him. So Kiyomi had to have been in a thirty minute distance from their apartment, Misa knew that much. While she waited, Misa went and retrieved a handgun Light had given her for protection and loaded it with silver bullets. _Oh Light, I hope this is all a misunderstanding… _She locked the bullets in before running her finger across it gently. …_Because if I can't have you, no one can._


	4. Chapter 4

**Based of of Romeo and Juliet.**

* * *

L slumped down on the bench by the bus stop, running a spidery hand through his raven locks. Mello laid on the other side of him, his leather attire glistening in the sunlight.

"Matt got an invitation to the party at the Yagami's tonight," the blonde said, toying with his rosary. "You wanna come with?"

"The Yagami's?" L repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. "You know our families do not get along."

"You mean your _gangs _don't get along," Mello muttered dryly. "Look, you are the one person I would expect to _not _be mixed up in that kind of stuff. You've told me multiple times you aren't going to be like them when you're older-"

"That isn't the point," L cut him off with a sigh. "We don't get along now. Not to mention I am sixteen and wouldn't really like to be disowned, which is what happened if I got caught partying with the enemy."

Mello slapped his hand over his forehead. "Please, you talk like one thing will cause everything to come crashing down!" His statement received silence, which urged him to continue, "You need to relax. Not to mention you never have fun. _Ever_."

"I'm sorry that I have better things to do than to go get hammered every night like you and your boyfriend," L retorted.

"Yeah?" Mello sat up from his sprawled out position on the bench. He turned to face him. "And just what would that be?"

"…"

The blonde gave him a playful shove. "_Exactly. _Just come to the party with us tonight. There will be tons of people there, no one will recognize you-"

"And what if someone does?" L cut him off sharply. "As I said before, I'm only sixteen. I have no where to go if something were to happen."

Mello snorted. "You're a freaking genius, though. You could get a job without even trying."

"IQ's don't get jobs, college diplomas do." L answered. He did have a especially sharp mind, but he never really got to show his full potential. His family wasn't very interested in academics. In fact, they forced him to drop out of school his freshman year in high school. So while the marks in previous years showed it, his parents were never overly interested. Seems like the only thing that impresses them is if you can rob a bank or shoot a man without getting caught.

He straightened up as he saw the white city bus pull up to the stop. Mello sat up as well, thrusting his hand into his tight leather pockets to find some money. He came up empty. "L, you got any extra cash? …Never mind, that's a stupid question. Can you give me some money?"

L sighed and reached into his jean pocket, pulling out a huge wad of cash. He pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to Mello absentmindedly before shoving the money back into his pocket.

Mello gaped. "Dude- that _had _to be at least five hundred dollars! How did you-"

"Can you be a little quieter, Mello?" L grumbled, boarding the bus. "I would not like to go to prison."

Mello cleared his throat awkwardly and followed in behind him. "Oh yeah. Well, can you at least tell me _how?_"

"Some family members gambled at a casino last night and came out lucky," L muttered under his breath, taking a seat at the front of the bus.

Honestly, Mello wasn't smart to ask these kind of questions in public. His family wasn't very liked with the law as it is, considering his family was one of the largest mafias in the area. The other was the Yagami's, and the two gangs fought like cats and dogs. Luckily the police usually showed up before someone got killed, but if they didn't show up… Well, there would be a lot more fatalities than there were.

Mello fell into the seat beside him. "So the Yagami's?"

"Still a no," L answered with a sigh. Looks like he's going to have to remind him. "The last time the Lawliet's and the Yagami's fought-"

"Someone came out dead _I know._" Mello huffed. "But if you need a little backup…" The blonde pulled out his shiny, black handgun. "Mattie and I can back you up."

"Put that away!" L hissed, shoving the blonde's hand down out of view. "It is as if you have a death wish for me."

Mello scoffed, cocking his gun with one hand and brushing his blonde locks out of his face with the other. "Please, I hang around you guys so much I might as well be a Lawliet. If you got caught, I'd go down with you."

"How does that make it any better?" L questioned monotonously. "If anything, it should make you more careful."

Mello propped his feet up on the seat in front of them and folded his arms behind his head, his gun still in his grasp. "That would be boring, though. Being close to a mafia is fun-"

The blonde was interrupted by his cellphone. He grumbled and reached into his pocket with one hand still folded behind his back. He flipped it open and read what was on the screen before flipping it closed again. He glanced at L from the corner of his eyes. "Yo L, Matt just sent me a message. He's meeting us at the next stop then we're going to by his place to get ready."

"Don't you mean _you_ are going by his place to get ready? I told you I'm not going, Mello," L said firmly.

Mello groaned and grabbed his bony shoulder, shaking him. "_Loosen up! _I swear you're going to this party tonight if it's last thing I do. _Everyone _will be there. _Including _a Lawliet! How exciting is that?"

"Another Lawliet will be there?" L questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope, just you!" Mello answered with a grin. "But that's what makes it fun."

L shook his head sadly. "You will be the death of me one of these days. You make me do the most ridiculous things."

"But weren't those the most exciting days of your life?" Mello smirked. "Because admit it- if it weren't for Matt and I, your life would suck. You don't even delve into the fun mafia stuff your family has."

"I admit you do make my life a bit more exciting than it would be…" L allowed reluctantly.

Mello flicked his rosary around in his fingers, his other arm still folded behind his head. "Damn right I do…"

"…Although," L continued sharply, shooting him a glare. "If I was thoroughly involved in my family's affairs, there is a high chance I wouldn't be alive today."

"Ever heard of taking a risk?" Mello snapped, grasping his maroon and black rosary tightly. "It's what your entire life is about. Embrace it."

"I would rather not…" L muttered under his breath.

He allowed his gaze to wander to the window as the bus slowed to a stop. In front of a graffiti covered house sat a black bench with a redhead sprawled on top. He was wearing his signature black and red striped shirt and tan vest as well as yellow goggles pushed over his forehead. A cigarette hung in his mouth loosely as his fingers danced across his portable gaming system. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact the bus pulled up. Probably because he had black beats covering both his ears, pounding music into his eardrums.

Mello eyed him with his blue eyes, waiting for him to notice the bus was there. When he failed to notice, he sighed in exasperation and crawled over L. L pressed against the cloth seat of the bus uncomfortably and gave the blonde an irritated glance as Mello pulled down the window.

"Maaaattie! Gamer boy!" Mello called in sing-song voice.

Matt looked around in confusion, moving one ear out from over his ear. He shrugged and returned the ear to its original position and took a drag off his cigarette.

"Goddamn it, Matt!" Mello cried, leaning out so that the entire upper half of his body was hanging out the window. "Over here!"

Matt blinked in Mello's direction, his green eyes lightening in recognition. He took the beats completely off this time. "Oh, hey Mells!" he called back, a loofy grin on his face and the cigarette caught between his teeth.

He did a motioning sign towards the bus. "Put your smoke out and get on." Mello grabbed L's white, cotton shirt and pulled him up so that he was in Matt's view. "I got L to come!"

The redhead let out a puff of smoke and smashed the cigarette into the concrete below him before propping himself up, his beats falling to hang around his neck. "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec, kay?"

"Don't keep us waiting!" Mello hollered back before latching the window closed again. He returned to his original seat beside L and kept his eyes glued on the doors, awaiting his boyfriend.

L settled himself back down on his seat, flattening out his now wrinkled white sweater with his hands. "You could have just asked me to sit up and wave, you know."

Mello waved his hand in dismissal, keeping his gaze fixed on the door. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Matt boarded the city bus a moment later, handing the bus driver a five dollar bill before plopping down on the seat directly across from them. Mello hopped across the aisle so that he was sitting next to Matt instead. L didn't mind this one bit.

"Let me see the invitation, Matt!" Mello said eagerly, bouncing as if he were an excited child.

Matt huffed and thrust his hand into his vest pocket and pulled out an opened envelope. "Here, Mells."

Mello accepted it, his eyes shining as he pulled the card out. It was a pure white card lined with lace with words printed in fancy cursive letters on it. The blonde cleared his throat and held the card out in front of him, " 'Dear Matt Jeevas, You have been invited to the Yagami's party on April 16th, 2004. You are free to invite as many as three extra people, but please do not exceed this limit. We look forward to seeing you. Sincerely, Sachiko and Soichiro Yagami.'" He finished it with a satisfied smirk. "How did you manage this, Mattie?"

Matt snorted and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. "I have my connections, Mello. Let's just say that."

Mello smiled warmly. "Well, I'm glad. It's been forever since we've been to a decent party."

L sighed. Mello and Matt were in a relationship- a very intimate one at that. They'll probably be all over each other and not even give him the time of day. He knew his friends weren't trying to do any harm and just wanted him to have a good time, but it never ended up well. Ah well. At least maybe L will be able to sneak out a bit early.

Matt gave Mello a nudge with his elbow. "Hey, what about L? We've gotta set him up with someone."

Mello shrugged. "Nah, he'll be fine. L's not the kind of person that dates."

L has to give Mello credit; he does know him very well. He would hope he does, given that Mello is his best friend. One of his only friends at that. But sometimes he does secretly wish he could find one girl that would go on a date with him. One girl that would fit his standards. He is sixteen, after all. Most guys his age go out with at least five girls in a three month time period. Mello's only fifteen and he's already lost his virginity. Not to Matt, but to an unknown male. Mello's sex life never ceased to amaze him, considering L is sixteen and still a virgin.

"Aww, that's not fun!" Matt said disapprovingly as he toyed with Mello's rosary. "You have to find _someone._ This is the time of the year- _everyone _goes to the Yagami's party!" L raised an eyebrow at him. The redhead coughed awkwardly, "Ahem… Not that your family's party isn't awesome too. 'Cause it is."

L opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Mello, "L will find someone at the party. We don't have time to set him up." Mello tapped the leather watch on his wrist. "The party starts in three hours."

Matt wrapped an arm around Mello's leather clad shoulders and smirked at L. "All right, we'll set you up _at _the party. Don't worry Elly, I have great tastes."

"I do not require a date," L muttered under his breath, leaning against the wall of the bus with one leg bent up and the other one stretched out. "But I have a feeling no matter what, you will attempt to set me up anyway."

"That's right. L Lawliet's getting laid tonight!" Matt cheered, holding his PSP up as if making a toast. The whole bus fell silent and gave him a questioning look. L threw daggers at him with his eyes, causing the redhead to sink into his seat. "Err… Sorry?"

"Yeah, you better be sorry," L grumbled as he bit on this thumb nail in embarrassment. His pale face was even tinged a light pink.

Mello laughed, his blonde locks bouncing as his body shook. "If _you _can get L to lose his virginity tonight, then I will personally pay you."

"Pay him what? You had to borrow money from me and you are living at Matt's house. And you don't have a job."

"I do too have a job!" Mello protested, referring to his job in the drug trafficking business.

"That job is illegal," L stated blankly.

Matt snorted. "You're one to talk, Mr. Lawliet. Your whole family is made up of illegal activities."

"And you're one to talk… What was it? Seductive Gamer? That is your stage name, right _exotic dancer_?" L taunted as he referred to Matt's job as a male stripper.

Matt frowned. "That job pays the bills. And I get toned muscles at the same time."

Mello slipped a hand under Matt's shirt to feel the toned abs the redhead was concealing. "It's true." he whispered huskily.

Matt's eyes narrowed with lust, causing L to let out a groan in annoyance. "Do you guys really have to get intimate in a city bus of all places? Have some standards. Or save it for the party at least."

Mello reluctantly withdrew his hand. "He's right. If you screw me now, we'll miss our stop."

_Of course, because that's the only thing wrong with having sex in public._ L swears, they never ceased to amaze him.

"Freaking queers…" L heard someone mutter from a few seats back. He shut his eyes tight. _Mello didn't hear, Mello didn't hear, Mello didn't hear…_

"What the _fuck _did you just say?" Mello exploded, shooting up from the seat.

L gulped and sank into the seats. Mello heard.

The man scowled, brushing his long, black locks out of the way of his silver frames. "Get a room or something. It makes some people _sick._"

Wait… That voice is familiar. Where did he hear it from…?

"Oh, really? So if I was shoving my tongue down the throat of some whore, it would be perfectly fucking fine?" Matt had placed a hand on Mello's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but Mello just swatted it away. It was these types of stereotypes that _really _set Mello off.

"Definitely more pleasurable than watching you feel your boyfriend's stomach! I thought I was going to lose my lunch for a second there." The man made a gagging sound. If the previous comments didn't send Mello through the roof, that did.

But at that moment, L recognized the voice. _Just my luck…_ He quickly reached across the aisle and clamped his hand over Mello's mouth. "That is Mikami Yagami, Sachiko Yagami's nephew," L said slowly. "Don't start anything."

Mello's blue eyes were still feral, but his body slowly relaxed and he laid back into Matt. Matt whispered a few comforting words as the bus slowed to a stop. L sat up only to find that they were stopped at the Yagami's, not Matt's house. L narrowed his obsidian eyes. _So he paid a bit extra so he could get dropped off first? Even I do not flaunt my money around so carelessly. _

Mikami stood up from his spot a few seats back, casually making his way up to the front. As L expected, the raven-haired man stopped at their seats. L quickly turned around a tried to conceal his face. He heard Mikami is extremely hostile and loves to fight, and L would like to live another day.

"What's wrong, blondie?" Mikami snorted, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "Are you going to the party tonight? Shutting up would be a smooth choice, I agree."

"Don't push me," Mello growled, his eyes dangerous.

Mikami's snickers stopped as he focused on Mello's hostile face carefully. "Wait a second… You're Mello Kiheel, close friend to the Lawliet's," He smirked widely as Mello's eyes flashed with slight worry. "Well well, Lawliet buddy. Just watch yourself at the party- I'm giving you a warning. And _don't _bring _any _of your Lawliet pals. Got it?"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" the blonde seethed, resisting the urge to whip his handgun out and shoot his brains out right then and there.

"Come on, we don't have all day, Yagami!" the bus driver hollered and motioned for him to move forward.

"Like I said, just watch yourself," he sniggered before shuffling out of the aisle and off the bus.

Mello waited until the bus had pulled off to clench the seats tightly. He seemed to really be trying to withhold the insults running through his head, but after a moment of silence it was just too much. "Can you _believe _him? I swear, after tonight, it's fair game." He pulled the gun out and aimed it at no one in particular.

"Thank you for controlling your temper. I wouldn't be able to hold back if he attacked you, and then we both would have been in deep trouble," L sighed as he turned to face his friend again.

"I can't say I'll be able to do that again. He's just lucky he's throwing such a kick-ass party." Mello grumbled moodily, playing with his rosary. That seemed to be a habit of his.

Matt waved in the direction of L. "What about L? Mikami threatened us not to bring any Lawliet's. Maybe he should sit this one out."

"Hell no, he's going," Mello grumbled in response. He pulled out his chocolate bar that he carried with him for emergencies and unwrapped it in one swift move. He brought the sweet bar up to his lips and snapped a piece off in an almost dramatic way. "I'd like to see him _try _and cross us. With all those people there, I bet you he won't."

"I will go, Mello." L decided reluctantly. "But if something comes up, I'm leaving. No if, ands, or buts."

"Fine by me," the blonde in leather said with a dismissal wave of his hand. "But you have to learn to stand up and fight one of these days, L. You're a Lawliet; you can't avoid bloodshed forever."

"Let me worry about that." L said in response before straightening up as the bus came to another stop. "We're at Matt's house."

"No shit Sherlock." Mello snapped teasingly as he stood up with Matt. "Now, let's go get ready."

"How do we get ready for a party? I say we just go in the clothes we are wearing." L argued, following Mello and Matt off the city bus.

Matt's house was an old, run-down house in the downtown region of Tokyo. It was held together with glue and duct tape for the most part, and it was a miracle that plumbing and electricity actually worked. One side of his house was decorated with elaborate graffiti depicting different gangs. There was even a Lawliet symbol somewhere on there. At least he was supportive.

"Oh, did Matt not tell you?" Mello tossed over his shoulder with a smirk. "It's a costume party."

L blinked blankly at his friends. "I'll pass, thank you."

Matt grinned as well as he unlocked the beaten door to his poor excuse of a home. "Don't worry, I have this image of a leather outfit for you that would just look absolutely stunning."

"No, he should wear a tuxedo." Mello disagreed. "It's fancy, but casual." Matt and L gave him a long look. Mello scoffed. "You'll love it when you see it."

Matt strolled across the living area that was littered with wrappers, stepping over an energy drink can as he neared his bedroom. Mello and L followed close behind, Mello kicking the can instead when he reached it. Once inside Matt's bedroom, the redhead yanked his closet door open. Inside was many different outfits of a lot of different styles, considering he and Mello shared the closet. After eyeing some of the tight leather outfits inside, L decided this will certainly not end well for him.

Smirking, Matt entered the closet and began to shift through the many different outfits. "Now… Let's get started."

A handsome young man stood in front of a mirror as his mother hastily brushed off small hairs off of his brilliant red tuxedo and fixed his flawless chestnut hair. "You look amazing, Light. Absolutely amazing."

"Mom, this is just a costume party," Light said, completely frozen besides his lips as his mother continued to fix him. "I don't have to look perfect."

"Oh, but we always want to look our best, don't we?" Sachiko sang in response. "Make the Yagami's look proud and make those Lawliet's jealous."

Light sighed under his breath and ran a hand through his light brown locks out of habit. His mother shrieked. "Look what you have done! Now I have to fix it all over again."

"Mom, _what is this about_?" Light asked in an irritated tone. "You never took this much time to make me look good in the past. And we've had dozens of parties."

The Yagami's were a bit more high class than the Lawliet's, but class doesn't matter. They were still just as devious and scandalous as their rival. Light never did understand the rivalry. He always thought that if the two families just joined together they could make twice as much money as they do now and they would have twice as much business. They would throw an even better party and could afford even better weapons. Despite this, the two families always found ways to keep themselves separated. Light had grown up with some resentment against the Lawliet's because of the deaths of past family members, but all in all he didn't hold as big of a grudge as his father did.

"Oh, by the way," his mother roused him from his thoughts. "We found a woman to marry you with. Their family already accepted, but we told them it's best to let you two get to know each other more, so she'll be here-"

"_What?" _Light cried, breaking out of his statue like stance to face his mother, an incredulous look on his face. "Marriage? Are you _serious?_"

"Just meet her, Light," Sachiko reassured. "She's a model, she's an actress, she's beautiful… What else could you ask for?"

"Some extra time to think about this!" Light retorted. "I'm _fifteen. _I realize plenty of people marry at my age, but you could have at least told me sooner! I mean, how long have you known about this?"

"She'll be here at the party tonight," Sachiko continued, skipping over Light's question. "Just dance with her and get to know her. You might be surprised."

"I bet this will go just as great as Takada did," Light muttered under his breath, straightening the rest of his outfit out himself.

Sachiko brushed his hands away from his hair and began to style it hurriedly again. "That was simple mistake. Everyone makes mistakes."

"This woman will be a mistake too. So will the next one. And the next one," Light quickly moved to open the drawer to pull out a sweet smelling cologne. His mother took it from him and began to spray it over his entire body. "I just don't see why I can't choose my own bride."

"We know what's best for you and the family," Sachiko said simply as she finished applying the cologne, putting it back into the drawer. "Her name is Misa and we're going to pick her up in an hour." His mother picked up the hairspray and sprayed it all over his strands of chestnut hair, locking it in place. "Try not to mess your outfit up, okay? You look perfect."

"I'll try my best," Light muttered with a small sigh.

Sachiko grinned and cupped his cheeks with her hands, planting a kiss on his forehead. "Okay, I have to go make sure Mikami is ready. I'll be back in about an hour, okay? Be ready."

His mother rushed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Light collapsed on the couch behind him. "Marriage… Oh god, not again," He fought the urge to rake his fingers through his hardened light brown locks. "I can't take another high-pitched squealing marriage candidate. Takada was actually _somewhat decent, but then there was Yuri…" He made a face. "Why can't they just leave it alone? I'll marry when I'm ready, there's no need to rush things." He crossed his arms. "I bet the Lawliet's don't force their sons to marry. I bet they can do as they damn well please. …Oh god, I'm talking to myself again." _

_He got up and walked back over to the mirror, taking a seat at the rolling chair. He stared at himself in the mirror. "I wonder if the Lawliet's are as stressed out as we are all the time… I wonder what they are like…" Light mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't be thinking about the enemy, but somehow he's always been a bit intrigued by them. He resented them, yet wanted to know more about them. His parents would have a field day if they knew this about their son with god-like looks. He sighed and spun himself away from the mirror, his forehead in his right hand. He could feel his blood pulsing through his temple as he got even more stressed out- he shouldn't be worrying so much. "I've got to stop thinking about this. Maybe Mom's right… Maybe this will be the one girl that I can actually live with. Just maybe…" _

_L was no Romeo and Light was definitely no Juliet. Their families at bitter ends for one another, a forbidden love leads to tragedy. LxLight, AU. Based off of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet._


	5. Chapter 5

L - Birth

"Charging…Clear!" The doctors shocked Julie Lawliet's body in a desperate attempt to bring her back. She was giving birth to her son, and she had lost too much blood. She had lost consciousness only moments before her heart stopped beating; a result from low blood pressure.

Her body jumped with the electricity, but still the heart monitor let out the loud alarm-like sound that showed her heart wasn't beating. Doctors rushed around her and the one who was holding the shock paddles let out a frustrated sigh, sweat rolling down both sides of his face. He rubbed the paddles again. "Charging… Clear!" Again, the body jerked forward, but to their dismay, the line on the screen was still flat.

The doctors repeated this three more times before making the hard decision. The nurse looked down at her watch. "Time of death: 12:32 PM."

A doctor holding a clipboard nodded grimly, scribbling the information down. The birth was going just fine, he didn't understand what had happened. One moment the child was being born, and the next second they were trying to revive her. He stared at the blood-stained sheets of the hospital bed, sadness reflecting in his eyes.

Frowning, he looked over the relatives list, and noticed the infant's only family was his mother. "So you're an orphan?" he mumbled under his breath, pulling out his cell phone an dialing a number he knew by heart. It was the number to a nearby orphanage that was well known in England. Whenever something like this occurred, he always trusted them to care for the children. "Hello… Yes, we have a child with no family… Twin Oaks Hospital… He's an infant… Thank you… Goodbye."

He sighed, hanging up his cell phone and turning to the bundle that writhed around on a table by him. It was Julie Lawliet's child. He was beautiful, the doctor noted, examining his pale, flawless skin. He already had a full head of charcoal hair that was still damp from coming out of the womb. The doctor brushed it out of his face affectionately, the baby letting out a cry at his touch. "You don't have anyone, do you?" he murmured softly. "No mother, no father… Not grandparents or aunts or uncles. How lonely."

The baby opened his eyes in response, staring up at the doctor curiously. He had wide eyes that seemed to stare straight through you. They were as dark as his hair and were rimmed with dark gray. The doctor blinked in interest as the two locked eyes for a moment. "Doctor?"

He turned away from the baby to face the nurse. "Yes?"

"We still need to put a name on the birth certificate. Did the patient have a requested name before she passed?"

The doctor shook his head sadly. "An employee from a nearby orphanage is coming to collect him soon; they'll decide the name. In the meantime, just put down his last name, Lawliet."

The nurse nodded, writing down 'Lawliet' on the certificate.

About 30 minutes later, a man wearing a formal-looking suit strolled into the hospital room. He immediately grinned as he spotted the doctor with the infant child, hold out his hand in greeting. "Hello, I'm here from Pine Creek Orphanage," he greeted, showing a business card to the hospital staff in the room.

The doctor nodded, shaking his hand. "Yes, of course." He reached down and collected the now sleeping bundle. The doctor exchanged the baby with a clipboard the orphanage employee was carrying.

"Oh, aren't you a handsome one," the employee murmured, staring down at raven-haired baby. After a moment, he returned his attention to the doctor. "If you could just sign custody over to the orphanage, we'll be on our way."

"But… what about his name?" the nurse questioned.

The man smiled warmly. "We prefer to get to know our children first before deciding on their names. If you don't mind, of course."

The doctor shook his head absentmindedly as he scribbled down his signature on the document. "No, that's not a problem." He handed the clipboard over the man from the orphanage.

The man accepted it, shaking the doctor's hand as he did so. He smiled in what seemed like innocence, "Thank you, doctor. The child is in good hands."

"We've got another one." The man called simply, placing baby Lawliet on the table. His expression, which was warm at the hospital, was now stone cold. "It's nameless."

A woman who was sorting out papers nodded absently. "Its name will be L-1458. Deliver it to room 301 and put it in a crib, we'll get someone to deal with medical stuff later."

The man scribbled down the information on the birth certificate, reading it over. 'L-1458 Lawliet'. _Not a bad name. Well, considering all the babies here are arranged by codes. _He moved the baby into a straw basket and carried it off, as if he were simply carrying groceries. He pushed the elevator's button hastily, tapping his foot impatiently as the elevator traveled down to the bottom floor. _Ding! _The elevator doors slid open and he strolled in, jabbing the third floor button as he entered. L-1458 blinked his eyes open sleepily, and immediately started crying. The man growled. "Shut it, will you? We're almost to your floor."

The baby sniffed, staring up at the brown-haired man with curious eyes. He sighed. "You're better than some of the other _things_ around here. At least you stop crying when you're told."

L-1458 simply stared at the man, making him uncomfortable. "Hey, quit staring. Your eyes are kinda creeping me out."

Unable to understand, the infant continued to stare up at the man who was now glaring down at him. "Hey! I told you to quit."

_Ding! _The man rushed out of the elevator and down a long hallway. The orphanage appeared more like a business than a place fore children with heavy doors and tiled floors. The man made a quick stop at room 301 and flung the door open, shaking the bundle in his hand. Upon entering, the man was nearly knocked down by the sound of screeching infants begging to be fed. He covered one ear irritably, shouting scolding remarks at the babies as he past them. The room was virtually pitch black, the only light source being a small window on the left wall. It was also soundproof, the loud screeches only heard on one side of the door but not the other. Cribs stood in rows, each with a code scribbled on a sign. 'R-2351', 'K-5674', 'S-5867'. The children here were known simply by codes to make organizing easier. That, and the leaders of this so-called great orphanage didn't have time to think of names for each child. So naturally these short codes were the easiest way.

The man stopped at an empty crib in a row of about ten babies before dropping L-1458 into it. The crib had a small, thin tan mat and a cracked rattle that didn't even rattle anymore. He pulled out a black marker, scribbling 'L-1458' on the sign nailed to the front of the crib.

The man then proceeded to unwrap him, revealing the loose, white footy pajamas the infant was wearing. Even in all the noise of the room, the raven-haired infant simply stared up at the man blankly. "Y-you're creepy. That's what you are." the man stuttered, backing away from the crib. "Forget what I said about you being handsome. You're creepy, and that's that."

L-1458 stared on uncaringly as the man abandoned him and the other children.

"Aaaaaaaah!" L-1458 screeched as the doctors poked him with a variety of different needles.

One of them gave him a not soft, but not too hard smack on the face, causing the child to scream more. "Would you _shut up?" a woman complained, crossing her arms, a syringe in her right hand. "Like I enjoy sticking needles in your body. This isn't fun for either of us."_

"_It can't understand you, Dr. Sanford." a nearby doctor groaned, pulling his own syringe back and holding up a tube of L-1458's blood._

"_I know, but still." Dr. Sanford murmured, pricking the pale infant once more. She pushed it further into his arm, causing the child to writhe in pain. She stepped back, pushing dark brown locks out of her face. "We'll need to restrain this one."_

_The doctors around her nodded into unison, pulling Velcro straps out of the table and tightening them around L-1458's wrists, ankle, and head. "Aaaaaah!" the baby wailed in response, trying to break free of the restraints._

"_Give it up." Dr. Sanford muttered, pressing the syringe in once more. Excruciating pain caused the pale infant's face to twist in discomfort. The doctor simply looked down at him coldly, having done this plenty of times in the past. The needle was pushed into the raven-haired infant's arm until it hit bone. Finally, she stopped and yanked it out, causing a trickle of blood to roll down L-1458's arm. The baby sniffed in response, no longer crying. "Got the bone marrow sample."_

"_Now the vaccines, and then we should be finished here." a doctor noted, taking out a row of five syringes. _

_L-1458 winced as each doctor took a syringe and injected him at once, tears running down his cheek. _

_Dr. Sanford wiped her hands in a sign of completion, tossing the used syringe in the trash. "Finally done."_

_The doctor turned and inserted the blood and bone marrow into a nearby machine. After a few presses of a button, the machine began to print pages of information. A male doctor selected the first one and seemed to only read off the simple things. "L-1458 Lawliet. Blood type is B. Nationality is twenty-five percent English, twenty-fiv percent Russian, twenty-five percent Japanese, and twenty-five percent French."_

"_Quite diverse." another doctor remarked, casting a glance at the infant who lay eerily still, still strapped down to the table. _

"_Apparently his family has a history of pancreatic cancer, but he only has a ten percent chance of contracting it…" a doctor in pale green scrubs murmured as he looked over the first page._

_Dr. Sanford crossed her arms. "A chance is still a chance. Go on." _

"_Estimated height: Five foot-eight inches. estimated weight… 110 pounds?" _

"_Short in height and light in weight," the brunette commented. "Perhaps we can assume he won't live past his teen years?"_

"_It is a possibility." a doctor said, nodding._

_L-1458 let out a small whimper, shifting around uncomfortably. The doctors averted their gazes back at the infant. "Oh yeah, someone take it back to its crib," Dr. Sanford muttered, waving her hand dismissively as she looked over the report._

_They all glanced at the youngest in the group, who sighed and went to collect the raven-haired baby. As soon as he undid the straps, L-1458 made a small noise that could be one of thanks. Throwing the baby over his shoulder, the doctor left the room, the infant screaming in protest as he exited._

_L - Age 1_

"_Get up."_

_The stern voice jolted L-1458 out of a deep sleep. A male employee glared down at the one-year old, waiting for the child to get up. L-1458 rubbed his eyes lazily, attempting to pull himself up in the sitting position. The bald man had a five o'clock shadow, making him look very aggressive. This was his handler. He had grown used to seeing his face every day, though he didn't look forward to it. The man chose aggressive ways of doing things, such as slapping him if he didn't move fast enough or giving him hard shoves if he hesitated even a little. The man tapped his foot impatiently, leering down at the him. "Come on, I know you can walk. Quit playing dumb."_

_L-1458 grabbed both sides of the crib and pulled himself into a standing position. He moved towards the end of the crib and reached towards the man to pick him up and put him on the ground. The man, known as simply as Mr. to him, rolled his eyes and roughly grabbed the child out of his crib and brought him to the ground. _

_L-1458 stumbled, but quickly regained his footing. This was his daily routine: get up, go eat, go play for about an hour, return to darkness. The older infant almost knew this schedule like clockwork, his mind being far advanced than the average being. He brought his finger up to his finger to chew on it which resulted in an angry shove from his fondly. He shot an upset glance up at Mr. Pierce through his messy charcoal hair. "Hurry up, you know it's time for lunch."_

_Actually, he didn't. How could he know? He had just turned two a few days ago. It's not like he knew it was a good thing, though. The only "happy birthday" he got was an unfriendly one from his handler. Another shove. "C'mon, I don't have all day." _

_L-1458 let out a small whimper before moving forward, followed by the loud footsteps of Mr. Pierce behind him. Other children were also being roused awake around him. _

"_Hey! I told you not to try pulling your bracelet off again!" _

_He winced as he heard the loud sound of skin hitting skin somewhere in the dark room. A child led out a cry of pain which was immediately followed by a scold from their handler. He tried not to slow down after hearing this, not wanting to risk a painful slap of his own._

_He was quietly led down the plain hallway he had traveled down many times before. The sound of footsteps from the other children was the only thing he heard as he made his way towards the elevator. They moved in a large crowd, almost like zombies. Their outfits exactly alike, their haircuts exactly alike- everything they could control was no different from the other children._

_The sealed, metallic double doors came into view at the end of the hall. An up and a down arrow glowed white next to the door, and a small compartment was indented to the wall under that. _

_He felt a squeeze on his hand as his handler shoved his hand under the DNA scanner. He felt the needle prick his hand, and he winced. "Test subject L-1458," a robotic female voice spoke. "Health: Ideal. Immune System: Ideal. White Blood Count: Ideal…"_

_The machine began to list things regarding health, information it got from a single drop of blood. The orphanage was filled with high-tech DNA equipment, which the orphanage used for its research. The inhumane research. "Hear that, runt?" L-1458 tilted his backwards to gaze at Mr. Pierce with questioning eyes. "Once you hit two, that'll actually start to matter. We're just getting you ready." _

_The rough-looking man scowled as the young child looked up at him, struggling to understand what he was trying to say. "Forget it," he snapped. "I keep forgetting you can't talk yet."_

_L-1458 frowned, hesitating before opening his mouth. "Can't… tawk?" he squeaked, tipping his head. _

_Mr. Pierce froze. "Did you just… talk?" _

"_Tawk?" the charcoal-haired boy repeated. _

"_Impossible," the man sputtered angrily. "Most children here don't start talking until they're two."_

_L-1458 brought a finger up to his mouth as he stared up at the man with innocent eyes. "Two?" _

_He swallowed. "You catch on quick. That could be a good and bad thing…" He flinched away from the child's stare, pulling him into the open elevator filled with other children. _

_L-1458 walked with the crowd of children through heavy, metal double doors. They were scanned with an infrared light upon entering the cafeteria. He held up his wrist, examining the bulky, black bracelet wrapped around it. This was a gift for his first birthday. Every time he passed through the doors, his bracelet would let out a high pitched beeping sound. He wondered why, yet he wondered why about a lot of things regarding the orphanage. So many things were uncertain to him. The boy was only one, after all. And his environment was quite confusing for any young child. _

_He sat down on a metal bench, cringing as the cold passed easily through his thin, gray uniform. He had started wearing this when he was one, too. Or when he could walk, to be exact. It was a simple, gray button up shirt with a collar. Below the collar to the right it had printed in black letters: 'L-1458 - Type B'. His pants, which were the same material as his shirt, was the same gray. For shoes, he was given a pair of simple rubber, black slip-on shoes that fell apart easily. _

_A foam tray was dropped in front of him. A cold, ham sandwich, an apple, a half a cup of milk, and a smaller cup with three pills inside of it. L-1458 didn't know what these pills were for, but as soon as he could walk, he was told he had to take them every day 'or else'. He shoved the tray away dully, picking out only the apple to eat. He took a small bite into it, savoring the sweet juices of the red fruit. Normally that's all he would eat. The boy found that he highly disliked foods that weren't sweet for some odd reason, and tried to keep away from them at all costs. Fruits, like apples, however, were just fine._

_Perhaps the sweet taste could help dull the bitter life he's lived ever since he could remember._

_Soon he had the apple eaten all the way down to the core, which he dropped onto his foam tray unceremoniously . He lifted the cup of milk, frowning as he discovered it wasn't cold. He reluctantly brought the cup up to his pale lips, allowing the room temperature milk to slip into his mouth. L-1458 swallowed half of the white liquid, and kept the rest in one cheek. He shoved the three pills into his mouth, swallowing them with the rest of the milk. He nearly choked as a loud scream cut into the air. _

"_But I don't want to take them! I don't like pills!" _

"_You'll take them or else!"_

_He snapped his gaze towards the commotion, laying his terrified black orbs on a girl who looked to be around four. She was nearly pressed against the wall, tears streaming down her face as a man leaned in towards her. She choked out, "I feel like I'm going to choke every time I take them! I don't want to!" _

_The cafeteria fell silent, everyone's attention on the argument in the corner of the cafeteria. _

_The man leaned in to the blonde-haired girls face, so close their noses were nearly touching. "You've got one last chance," he growled through clenched teeth. "Take. The. Pills."_

_The girl shook with fear as she cast a glance down at the small cup. She swallowed hard, she brought her gaze back up a the seething man. "N-n-no."_

_In an instant, the man had the girl pinned against the wall, her body writhing in a failed attempt to escape. His fingers pried the girl's mouth open before shoving all three pills inside. He then took the milk and poured it into her mouth, then forcing into shut. "Swallow." he demanded. _

_The girl, shaking, gulped the pills and milk down. "Open up."_

_She opened her mouth. "Lift your tongue." She obeyed. After confirming that she had taken her medicine, the man released her grip on the girl, who fell to her knees with her face in her hands. "Why are you so mean?" she shrieked after a moment._

_The man who was her handler blinked in surprise before smirking. "Why not?"_

_The raven-haired child frowned. "Why… not?" _

_L-1458 looked away out of fear of getting punished for watching. He toyed with the small cup that once contained his pills, his body shaking after watching the episode. He had learned what happened when you didn't take the medicine. But why?_

"_Come on, runt. It's exercise time." L-1458 felt a light push on his back as he was guided down a long hallway. This was his first time going to this so-called "exercise time", but he could tell from the looks on the faces around him that it wasn't something to look forward to. At the end of the hallway there were two double doors which Mr. Pierce pushed open effortlessly. He grabbed L-1458's arm roughly, literally dragging him onto a treadmill. He set the speed on slow, before looking down in amusement at him as he started walking to keep from falling. As soon as he got comfortable with this speed, his handler cranked it up, causing him to break into a jog. "Not bad for a one year old." he observed before raising the speed even more. "We could use you." _

_L-1458 broke into a run as the speed increased dramatically. He was panting, sweat rolling down both sides of his face as he struggled to keep up with the machine. Mr. Pierce sat nearby in a chair, cackling. "Haha, you're more amusing than television." _

"_S-stop." L-1458 managed to say as he nearly stumbled. _

"_What was that? Stop? I'm sorry, I don't take orders from you." he replied mockingly. _

_He gulped as he was pulled down towards the end of the machine, unable to keep up. He closed his eyes and strained to run faster, but he didn't succeed. L-1458 fell off the treadmill as he slipped, hitting his elbow quite hard on the floor. He burst into tears, holding his bruised elbow. "Ow…" he murmured, tears rolling down his cheeks._

_His handler rolled his eyes, pushing himself out of his seat. "You got hurt? Way to go. Now we have to make sure it isn't serious. Next time actually keep up with the treadmill, okay?"_

_L-1458 nodded feebly as he was led out of the exercise room, getting envious looks from the other children. He heard words being bounced across the room._

"_He gets to leave?"_

"_Wow, how lucky… I never get out for falling."_

"_I bet he isn't even hurt!"_

_He fixed his gaze on the floor, sniffing as he held his throbbing elbow. Mr. Pierce suddenly gripped his arm, causing a gasp of pain to escape L-1458's lips. His handler scowled and threw it back down. "It isn't broken or fractured," he snarled, pushing the double doors back open. "I don't need to be a doctor to know that. Now quit overreacting a get back in there. And we're starting at the speed we left off. Got it?"_

_L-1458 nodded reluctantly, since any other action would likely lead to punishment. He could only blink away the tears silently as he was led back into the exercise room, where he ran for two hours with only two water breaks._

_Dr. Sanford sat at the front of a long wooden table, several other doctors sitting in the other seats. She looked at each and every one of them, smirking as she was reminded at what kind of power she had. She cleared her throat, "Now, for the sake of humanity, which drugs shall we test next?" _

_A young man tapped a pencil on his chin, looking through a list of possible choices before raising his hand in excitement as if he were in school. "Ooh! This one's a cancer treatment pill!"_

"_What's the highest risk?" Dr. Sandford asked uninterestedly as she twirled a pen in her fingers._

"_Death," he replied grimly. "Maybe we shouldn't…"_

"_No," she interrupted. "If we don't test the medicine, then innocent members of the public could die."_

"_But isn't that just like killing the children here?" a newer member called from the end of the table._

"_No," Dr. Sanford laughed. Her eyes flickered evilly. "These children are orphans; they have nothing else to live for. No family, no home. For some of them, we're doing them a favor."_

_She looked back down at her reports, scribbling in the cancer drug for the next pill to be given to the children. Dr. Sanford was the head of the drug testing corporation there, which was what kept the whole orphanage running. She made a huge profit off of all the drugs she tested, and donated forty percent of her earnings to the orphanage, her main source of test subjects. The orphans here underwent a series of tests everyday, preparing them for harder challenges that they would meet at their next birthday. For one year olds, it was physical training, to get the body fit and ready to take the drugs. Mild test drugs are given to one year olds as well, given through a small plastic cup during their lunch period. _

_Children who lived through that underwent DNA testing at two. DNA testing continued till they were three, before switching to psychological testing, which lasted until they were five. If the children could make it to the five year mark without breaking, they were moved into a new department that tested new hair products, make up, and things of that nature. The products they would test changed every two years. It was a successful, yet extremely inhumane, system. Most children didn't live past the age of fourteen. _

"_And also, I would like to bring up the issue of the L-1458 experiment," Dr. Sanford continued, shuffling through the child files before finally finding the document. She held up the piece of paper that had a nearly two-year-old boy with pale skin. Spiky black hair contrasted with his skin and he had dark eyes to match. Said child had a finger shoved into his mouth, which he was chewing on when the camera flashed. Beneath the picture read, in black bold letters, "L-1458 'Lawliet'". "…This child is making exceptional progress and is quite sharp. I would like all employees to watch him closely- we might give him a few extra drugs for experimentation."_

_They nodded in unison._


	6. Chapter 6

L used to live a simple life, but simple as it might have been, secretly he longed for nothing more. A small, wood house on the English countryside surrounded by fields of wildflowers- that was his original home. He lived there with the most important person in the world to the six-year-old, Louise Lawliet. Or known simply to him, Mommy.

L had fuzzy memories of sitting out in the field with his mother, looking at wild plants and staring at fluffy, white clouds. There was no one that Louise Lawliet cared for more than her dear son. She dedicated every moment of her free time to spend time with him, but it was hard considering she had to work two jobs to support them. Little L's father had died before he was born in a car accident, leaving his pregnant wife alone.

"Mommy, where's daddy?" L would ask as they laid sprawled out in the grass.

She would cast her blue eyes on him sadly. It was a such an innocent question to him, but it still hurt. She smiled a small smile. "In heaven, Little L."

"Heaven?" he would say, nipping at his finger nail curiously. "Where is that; can we go?"

"Heaven is where good people go when they die," his mother would explain gently. "Your father was a good person, so he got to go to there. One day you will go there, Little Lawliet." Her son looked so much like her dead husband that she had a habit of calling him 'Little L' or 'Little Lawliet'. She used the nickname so often sometimes she wondered if he knew his actual name.

"Good people?" L would repeat. His wide, gray eyes would form shapes out of the clouds above him. "So I'm a good person?"

Louise Lawliet would smile and ruffle his fluffy head of black, spiky hair. "Of course."

L would smile adorably in response, wiggling his toes over each other. "So when I die, I'll get to see daddy?"

His mother would nod. "Yes."

They would sit in silence for a few moments, the only noise being the song of birds flying overhead and bugs chirping in the field around them. Then L's mind would sprout another question for his mother, "What is he like, Mommy?"

Louise Lawliet would blink in surprise before smiling warmly, wrapping her pale arm around him and rolling over onto her side. "He was nice and caring and he loved you very much. He would've loved to have met you," She would pause, her eyes flashing sadly as she remembered old memories. "When he took me to get an ultrasound, he got so excited when he saw you in my tummy. He wanted to teach you so many things, Little L…" she would trail off out of fear that her eyes would well up with tears. It would not do either of them any good if she cried again; she had to move on at some point.

"He looked like me too, right?" L would chirp innocently. "That's why you call me Little L."

His mother would smile and brush the raven locks out of her son's face. "Yes, you look exactly like he did when he was younger, Little Lawliet."

"That is a good thing," L would say in response. "I will know exactly what to look for when I get there."

Their days would come and go like this. Little L would be left alone in their empty house for the majority of the day to do as he pleased while his mother worked fourteen hours a day. He would mostly humor himself by going through the books in his father's old study after his mother told him that his father enjoyed reading.

"Mommy?" L asked one evening as he laid belly-down in the study, one of his father's massive encyclopedias open in front of him. "How do you read?"

"You have to learn the alphabet," she replied with smile as she flipped through a book of her own.

L frowned down at the hundreds of words in front of him, kicking his feet up and down behind him in a steady rhythm. "Could Mommy teach me? I want to read the books that daddy read."

His mother closed her book and stood from the massive leather chair. "Mommy has to go to work. But here," She open one of the drawers in a nearby antique dresser, fishing through a sea of tapes. She finally found the one she wanted and held up the black item for L to see. "Put this in the tape recorder- it should teach you."

L got up eagerly and scurried over to his mother, taking the tape with shining gray eyes. "Thank you, Mommy! I will not stop reading until I know how to read, I promise!"

Louise Lawliet giggled and knelt down to his height, planting a soft kiss on his pale forehead. "You be good, okay Little L? Dinner is in the fridge. I'll be home in the morning."

L studied all night that night until he knew how to correctly read every vowel and consonant in the English language. The tape recorder had suggested the dictionary for learning new words, and thanks to his new reading skill, he quickly located the dictionary among the masses of books in his father's study. Instead of sleeping like most six-year-olds did that night, L wanted to expand his vocabulary.

He moved a wooden chair to the base of the tall bookcase after locating the dictionary. It was a few rows up, and even with the assistance of the chair it was just out of his grasp. L stood on the tip of his toes reached until his fingers brushed the spine of the massive book. He curved them so that next time he would grasp onto it and finally he got the book to fall from its tall place on the shelf. Two other books fell along with it, landing in a messy heap beside the chair.

L climbed down off the chair carefully before crouching down in front of the books. He turned them all over carefully. The first book read "Webster's Dictionary", the second book read "Detective's Code: A Guide to Deduction", and the last one read "Desserts Made Easy".

L picked the Guide to Deduction with on hand and Desserts Made Easy with the other, holding them at the same height as his face. The deduction book had a shady-looking man in a cloak with a pipe sticking out of his mouth, a small trail of white smoke rising from it. The dessert book had a delicious spongy shortcake on the front, white icing and strawberries filling the layers. They both intrigued him.

He finally lowered them back to the crowd before settling himself on the hardwood floor, his knees drawn to his chest. "Detective…" he enunciated perfectly before sliding the dictionary over to him. "What does that mean…?"

The raven-haired boy flipped the maroon book open, skimming through the yellowed pages of words until finally finding the one he was seeking. "A member of the police force or private investigator whose… function is to obtain information and evidence, as of offenses against the law…" He lowered his head to his knees. "Sounds complicated, but I think I understand. I've seen a police officer before. But what is deduction…?"

He flipped a few pages back before finding the desired word. To his surprise, it had multiple definitions. "The act of deducting; subtraction. Something that is or may be deducted. The act or process of deducing. Something that is deduced… Deduct means subtract, so that can't be right… But deduce came up twice as well. Deduce…What does that mean…?"

L flipped through definitions every time he came across a word he didn't know. He read five chapters of the deduction book and skimmed through many delectable-looking recipes in the cookbook. Little L even baked the cake shown on the cover after finding that they had all the necessary ingredients.

By the time his mother came home, L had fallen asleep, the open detective book being used as a pillow. Nearby was an empty the plate, the only evidence that food was there being a few scattered crumbs and a half-eaten strawberry. The open cookbook was under L's right arm as he slept.

"Well well, you actually learned," she whispered, scooping him up in her arms. He mumbled incoherently and shifted in her grasp, burrowing his face into her shirt. She chuckled. "Someone needs sleep."

Louise Lawliet carried her son back into his bedroom, tucking him in. She brushed his hair away from his pale forehead to kiss him. L blinked his eyes open groggily. "Mommy…?"

"You fell asleep in Daddy's study," she told him with a small smile. "I saw that you were reading."

L nodded and brought a small hand up to his half-open eye to rub it. "I learned a lot because of the tape Mommy gave me. Thank you."

She chuckled. "You're very welcome. It looks like you're a fast a learner like your father was."

L yawned, his eyes watering a bit in response. He blinked his watery eyes tiredly. "Daddy was a fast learner?"

"He was very smart," His mother responded with a warm smile. "He was a neurologist."

"I know what that is," L chirped in excitement. "It's a doctor specialized in neurology. They help fix the human nervous system."

Louise Lawliet blinked in surprise before letting out a quite, lighthearted laugh. "Someone's been studying. But even little geniuses have to sleep, and you've been up all night."

"Yeah," L mumbled in response, rolling over and snuggling into his comforter. "Goodnight, Mommy."

His mother kissed him again. "Goodnight, my Little Lawliet."

Over the course of the next few weeks, L practically lived in his father's study. Surrounded by encyclopedias of many different branches of knowledge, he amused himself by reading each one as if it were a picture book. His favorite studies were psychology, philosophy, and criminal justice. He didn't exactly study the science of criminal justice in itself, but instead enjoyed reading fictional stories about murder. His vocabulary had increased one hundred fold after one month, being at the reading level of ninth graders.

Speaking of reading, L was doing just that the day his life changed forever. His nose was buried in a recently discovered treasure- a Sherlock Holmes book. Every now and then he would switch the detective fiction for an encyclopedia he had near him. Today, a psychology book was to his left and a book on plant studies was to his right.

"L? Are you in there?" his mother called to him from somewhere outside the study.

L cleared his voice before calling back, "Yes, I am in daddy's study!"

The door clicked before his mother finally pushing it open, her emerald green eyes flashing with relief. She straightened out her navy shirt, pulling it down as she spoke, "I couldn't find you anywhere. You need to-"

"Mommy looks fine," her son mused as he glanced up from his book.

Louise Lawliet raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"It is a common sign in body language that if you pull your shirt down, you are self conscious about your appearance," L explained, his eyes falling back down to his book. He was laying belly-down in front of it, his head supported by his hands. "Mommy looks fine, there's no reason to be worried."

His mother blinked as she made sense of her son's words. "You've been reading way too much. Some of this stuff you don't have to know until you're in college, why worry now when you're only six?"

"Why not?" he mumbled in response, flipping the page. "The more things I learn now, the more stuff I can learn later."

His mother frowned, obviously displeased. She marched over to her son and abruptly closed the book before scooping up the two encyclopedias as well. L blinked anxiously. "Mommy, I was reading that!"

"Not anymore," she replied, placing the books back on their rightful places in the tall bookshelf. "Today we're going to spend time together since I have the day off."

L's face brightened instantly. "Mommy has the day off?" he asked eagerly as he scrambled up from the old wood floor.

His mother smiled in response. "All day. We can do whatever you want."

L was already at the wooden door, pushing it open with a huge grin on his face. "I can teach Mommy how to make cakes! Then I can show her all the different plants that live in our yard!" He was bouncing on his heels. "And then we can create organic medicines out of the herbs in the woods! And then-"

"Let's just do the cake for today, Little L," she chuckled as she walked into the hallway with her son. The entire house made of an old wood and had that old-timey feel to it. Everything seemed like it was from last century, but everything technological-wise was up to date. "Cake and cartoons. Sound good?"

"Maybe we can swap the cartoons for a movie," L allowed. His mother and him were already inside the kitchen, L immediately rushing over to the fridge and pulling out the strawberries and eggs. "But cake sounds fine. The strawberry shortcake is my favorite. Let me show you how to make it!"

One beautifully crafted strawberry shortcake and three movies later, L had finally succumbed to exhaustion. He laid curled up, half of his body on the pillow on his mother's bed. His knees were drawn to his chest and his thumb was resting next to his mouth. His flawless, pale face was spotted with little bits of crumbs and the yellow shirt he was wearing today was stained with white icing. He looked like an ordinary, tired six-year-old.

His mother laid next to him, her arms folded against her chest as she continued to watch TV. The house was eerily quiet besides the noise from their small television. His mother wasn't normally paranoid, but today the tension felt so thick she could cut it with a knife. A creak in the floorboards confirmed her suspicions, but before she could say anything, a man was in the doorway.

"Louise," he cackled, knife and rope in his hands. "Louise Lawliet."

She tensed up, backing against the headboard of the bed. "That's me. Who are you, why are you in my home?"

"Remember?" he said as he locked the door from the outside and closed it behind him. "You were my nurse in Grace Tree Psych Hospital? You promised if I took the medicine I would get better."

She slowly eased herself off the bed, not wanting L to wake up. "And you did, Lawrence. You were discharged six months ago."

"But the voices came back!" Lawrence exclaimed, his voice slowly rising. His brown eyes were sparking with madness, giving Louise an uneasy feeling. "And it's all your fault! They told me so!"

"I didn't do anything to you, Lawrence," she replied in hopes of reasoning with the schizophrenic man. "I can get you admitted back into Grace Tree if you need more treatment, you don't have to listen to the voices."

Lawrence began to take slow, firm steps towards her. "But they're right! You made the decision that I was ready when I wasn't! Now they're telling me that killing you will fix it," He clutched the rope and knife handle tightly. "I want to fix it! I want to be normal!"

"Lawrence-" Before she could finish her sentence, her old patient pushed her into the open bathroom beside her, slamming the door behind him. L murmured something and shifted around, but otherwise remained asleep.

Lawrence grabbed her arms and yanked them behind her before proceeding to wrap the rope tightly around her waist and chest. Louise tried to kick him off, but he was sitting on her legs and he had the weight advantage. When all the rope was wrapped around, he tied a tight knot before standing up to admire his work.

"Lawrence!" Louise shrieked, thrashing around on the bathroom floor. "Untie me at once!"

Lawrence grinned mockingly, twisting the knife so that is glinted in the light of the bathroom. "You say that like you have a choice in what I'm about to do."

She paused for a moment as she panted, trying to catch her breath. "I… have a… son… You wouldn't do that to him… would you?"

"Oh, he didn't do anything to me like you have," he replied nonchalantly. He brought the knife down and made a small incision on her hand, causing her to scream in response. "Don't worry, I won't hurt him as long as he doesn't see me."

The scarlet blood began to rolled down her wrist and drip onto the floor. She grimaced. "S-Stop, Lawrence. You don't want to do this."


	7. Chapter 7

**This was intended to be a sequel to one of my other stories, _Is that a__ Bet._**

* * *

"Toothbrushes?"

"Check."

"Clothes?"

"Check."

"Chocolate, toys, and video games?"

"Although Roger will provide plenty of that when we arrive, check."

It was that time of the year again - the time where L, Light, and the kids take the annual trip to Whammy's House, the orphanage they were adopted from. Mello, Matt, and Near return yearly to take the placement test with the rest of the children there. Even though it isn't necessary, their little devils still like to know they are above the rest. It also gives some par Plus it's an excellent time for them to connect with children near or on their level.

But that's not always a good thing.

"Yay, we're going to Whammy's House!" Matt cheered as he thundered down the wooden stairs, his backpack bouncing off of his black and red striped shirt.

Mello dashed down after him, shoving him aside. Matt gripped on to the railing to keep from stumbling down the rest of the way, glaring angrily at his brother. "Mello!"

"Can't help you're slower than Near," Mello snorted from the foot of the stairs, waving up at the snow-haired boy who was walking calmly down the stairs.

"You should not be causing trouble right now, Mello," Near commented calmly, then lowered his voice when he heard his parent's footsteps approaching. "when we are sure to cause a lot of it later."

Matt next to Mello as Near climbed down the rest of the stairs, nudging the blonde with his elbow. "He's right, you know."

"Shut up…" Mello muttered, rolling his blue eyes.

L and Light walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Light had a duffel bag his right hand, while L was holding the check list that Light had come up with.

Light placed a hand on the blonde's head. "You're not supposed to be running down the stairs anyway."

Mello sniffed indignantly. "Matt started it."

"Just because Matt did it, doesn't mean you do it too," Light pointed out.

"Yeah, have some originality," Matt chimed in with a smirk before pulling a gameboy out of the pocket in his shirt.

"Matt…" the brunette warned, casting a stern glance on his adopted son.

The red-head sighed. "Sorry for running down the stairs…"

Light withdrew his hand from Mello's head and smiled. "Good. Now that that's taken care of…" He averted his gaze to his raven-haired husband. "L, you sure we have everything?"

"Light, we've gone over the list five times," L deadpanned.

Light huffed and marched over to L, snatching the list as he passed. "You can never be too sure…" he muttered, looking over it again.

L sighed and followed him back into the kitchen, his pale hands shoved in his jean pockets. "Light, I realize this is the first time that you will be accompanying us on this trip, but you really shouldn't worry so much. Anything we don't have already will be provided on arrival."


	8. Chapter 8

"Light-kun, you should sleep," L murmured, breaking the silence that fell in the dark room. Even though the room was pitch black, Light could tell the detective was watching him closely. "You haven't slept in a while. It is bad for your health."

Light narrowed his eyes and angrily turned over, yanking the covers as he did so. "Light-kun…"

The teenage boy didn't want to hear it. He was done thinking he was crazy. It kept him up at night, and it made his mind stray from pursuing Kira. Light knew he and L had gotten intimate one night when a discussion about Kira led to their feelings for one another. Yet L was insisting to Light it was a mere dream. "You're not going to pretend that night never happened," Light spat bitterly. "That's the happiest I've ever seen you, Ryuzaki. And you don't even want to admit it."

L sulked slightly, staring at his friend. "Light-kun.. I don't know what you are talking about. We've had this discussion before. I would remember getting intimate with you, wouldn't you think?"

"Save your breath," Light muttered. "You aren't saying anything I haven't heard."

Light felt a shiver run down his spine as L wrapped an arm around his body. "You already know I care deeply about you, Light-kun. But I don't think our relationship has reached an intimate level, or anything that crosses any lines."

The Kira suspect let his gaze wander to the window, staring at the sky as L talked. His touch was comforting, but he knew L was only doing it to calm him down. "Ryuzaki, you will never convince me that that night never happened."

"What about Misa-san? You are dating her, yet you still have feelings for me?"

Light sighed. Not that again. "We have gone over this before. Our relationship is one-sided, she is in love with me."

"I know," Light felt L pull his arm off of him and he let out a silent whimper at the loss of contact. "Maybe you could try to find happiness in her? She is highly attracted to you after all."

This question was new one. Light didn't know why L asked such a pointless question when he knew how he felt about Misa. "I cannot have feelings for anyone who doesn't share the same intelligence as I do. Misa is far from that level."

L stared blankly at Light. _If only you weren't a suspect, Light Yagami. Then I would allow our relationship, and recognize that night. But you could only be trying to manipulate me, and L doesn't let people manipulate him. He is too intelligent for that. _

Light turned onto his back, sighing. "And you're one to talk about sleeping," Light muttered. "Have you seen the dark shadows under your eyes from sleep deprivation?"

"If I slept, then I wouldn't be able to watch to make sure you don't do anything suspicious."

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not Kira?" Light muttered.

"You can tell me how ever many times you like, my suspicion won't drop."

Light narrowed his eyes and with a single yank of the chain, he pulled Ryuzaki onto him, causing their lips to collide. L immediately pulled away. "Don't do that again." he murmured flatly, his blank tone showing a hint of annoyance. Though deep inside, his heart was begging him to kiss Light.

His heart was telling him to take Light into his arms and hold him. His heart was telling him to _be _with him. But L had to ignore that. It was dangerous if he got too careless with Light. If Light played him right, he could have L dead before L could say 'Light Yagami is Kira'. And L had put too much of his time and effort into this case to let himself die that easily.

Light huffed, turning back over on his back. He spoke in an icy, but sad tone, "Goodnight, Ryuzaki."

Sunlight had begun to slip into their bedroom, marking the sign of a new day. Neither boy had slept the night before, and the tension from their conversation hours ago still hung in the air. Light slipped into his usual clothing. When he had finished, he felt Ryuzaki put the cuff around his wrist again before leading him out their bedroom door. "Morning, Light!" Misa sang, nearly tackling the teenage boy as she hugged him. "Oh yeah, morning Ryuzaki." she muttered, eyeing him from the corner of her eye.

Ignoring Misa, L walked over to a chair in front of the screens and settled into it, drawing his knees up to his chest. The chain forced Light to follow, who took his seat beside L's.

Matsuda joined the group in the task force headquarters. "Misa-Misa, we have to go to the shooting for the movie today, remember?"

Misa turned to Matsuda and gave him a cheerful smile. "Of course I remember, Matsui!" Light felt Misa throw her arms around his neck and squeeze him affectionately. _Didn't we just hug? _Light rolled his eyes as the model's voice nearly shattered his eardrums. "Liiiight, don't forget about our date today! We should be back at noon!"

"Of course, Misa. How could I forget?" Light muttered.

"Is Light saying he's excited? Yaaaaay !" Misa cheered, squeezing Light tighter- if that was possible.

The Kira suspect noticed that L was looking at him, his eyes faintly flickering with amusement. _He thinks this is funny, does he? _He shot him a glance as to say 'You know I don't like her!'. The detective ignored this, however, and turned back to the computer screen. "Yeah, sure, Misa." Light grumbled, pulling Misa's clingy arms off of his neck.

"Aww, is Light in a bad mood?" Misa pouted. "It must be because it's early, you just aren't a morning person like I am. But don't worry, I'll be back before you know it!"

"Misa-Misa, we're going to be late!" Matsuda called from across the room.

Light heard Misa run across the room to join her Matsuda, her heels making an obnoxious '_clack' _sound with every step. "Bye, Light! I'll be back before you know it!"

The Kira suspect heard the doors slide open, then shut again. He dragged his hands on his face, leaning back in his chair in exasperation. "I forgot about our date today!" he groaned. "What am I supposed to do?"

L shoveled a spoonful of the ice cream that Watari had just delivered into his mouth. "Mm. Obviously you go on a date with her." he mumbled through his dairy treat.

Light glared at him through the openings of his fingers. "Says the guy she isn't obsessing over," he snapped. "How could she be in love with me at first sight?"

"Love is strange a strange thing, Light-kun." L teased, taking the cherry from the top of the ice cream and putting it in his mouth.

"Shut it." he growled, sitting back up.

L paused for a moment, his mouth twisting and changing positions as he looking up at the ceiling intently. A moment later, he stuck his tongue out, a tied cherry stem balanced on the tip. Light felt his cheeks flush and he hastily turned away. "Quit teasing me."

"I do not see what you mean, Light-kun."

After a few moments, L turned the computer on in front of him with a presses of a buttons, causing the surveillance system of their new headquarters to turn on the larger screens. "What do you think, Light-kun?" the detective drawled, his spoon halfway in his mouth.

Light examined the screens showing many of the hallways in the building. "Impressive. This will be a wonderful place to continue our investigation."

L nodded, bringing the spoon out of his mouth to scoop another spoonful of ice cream. "Yes, I agree. This building will be highly useful."

"Ryuzaki, what are your feelings for me?" Light asked flatly out of nowhere.

"Huh, this again?" L said bluntly. "We're friends, Light-kun. Nothing more. Should I remind you of our most recent conversation regarding this topic?"

"No." Light huffed coldly and spun his chair away from the detective, causing the chain to yank slightly.

"Light-kun shouldn't be so moody when I am only answering truthfully." L pointed out, scooping out his last scoop of his cold dairy treat.

"And Ryuzaki shouldn't lie to someone's face over and over when he knows the truth." Light snapped, mimicking the detective's tone.

"I am not lying, Light-kun. I have no reason to lie to you about something like this." L lied, pushing the glass bowl away with his index finger.

"Whatever." Light muttered, dismissing the subject.

L examined Light for a moment before sighing. He reached over his knees and pressed a button, while saying, "Watari, please bring me another sundae… And bring Light some coffee, he is having trouble waking up this morning."

Light crossed his arms and glanced around Misa's room. They were on the date, just as promised. Though the blonde-headed model hadn't said anything in the past few minutes, which was surprising. It was probably because she didn't want L there, based on all the scowls she kept throwing his direction. But the detective wasn't phased by the looks, completely content with his layered shortcake. Finally, Misa sighed, her face twisting into a look of pouting. "Umm… This doesn't feel like a date at all." she grumbled.

"Pay no attention to me." L mumbled through the strawberry he was taking a bite of. Then, he pointed hungrily towards Misa's untouched cake with his fork. "By the way, will you be eating that cake?"

"Sweets are fattening, no thanks…"

"If you use your brain, you can eat sweets without gaining much weight." L said matter-of-factly, tapping his head with a spidery finger as he did so.

"You're making fun of me again!" Misa pouted, then leaned in towards L with a pleading smile. "Fine, I'll give you the cake, so can Light and I be alone?"

"Even if you're alone, I'll be watching on monitors so it won't really make a difference." L said monotonously, giving Misa a bored stare.

"Why are you such a pervert?!" Misa cried, literally stomping on the floor as she crossed her arms. "Stop these sick hobbies of yours!"

L wasn't bothered by Misa's reaction, however, and leaned across the table to retrieve the blonde's slice of cake. "You may call me whatever you wish, but I'm taking your cake."

"Fine then! When Light and I are alone, I'll close the curtains and turn off the lights!" Misa smirked.

"There are infrared cameras too." L mumbled, taking a bite of the cake.

"Then we'll get under covers, right Light?" the model asked, giving Light a flirtatious look.

"Whatever," Light huffed, ignoring Misa's cry of disappointment as he turned towards L. "We have this great facility now, yet you don't seem very into it, Ryuzaki."

"Into it?" L murmured thoughtfully, staring off into nowhere. "Not really. I'm actually kind of depressed."

This made Light concerned. After all, he had feelings for the quirky detective. "Depressed?"

"Yes…" L brought a piece of cake up to his mouth. "For the longest time, I thought you were Kira. I'm a little shocked that I was wrong." He lifted his wrist. "Well, I still suspect you, thus these handcuffs… But Kira could control people's actions, meaning Kira controlled you to make me think you were Kira." The detective lowered his head to his knees. "Light-kun and Misa-san were both controlled by Kira. Everything fits in my mind if I assume that to be fact… The only thing I don't understand is why the two of you weren't killed."

Light gazed at L thoughtfully as the detective continued.

"If you were being controlled and killed people without being conscious of it, then you are nothing more than a victim. I have to start the investigation over from scratch... We're back to the beginning. If Kira took interest in you because he had access to police information and then controlled you to make you a suspect in my eyes… That's a pretty big shock to me. Very frustrating."

Light analyzed the information. _He's not frustrated that we were controlled… He's frustrated because I'm a victim, therefore he can't arrest me. He wants me to be Kira. _"Ryuzaki…" he started, deciding to voice his thoughts. "With that line of thinking, it means that while we were being controlled, Misa and I were the Kiras…"

L moved his gaze to Light's, his eyes hardening. "Yes. I don't think there's any mistake there. Your both Kiras."

Light gaze L a challenging look, which urged L to continue. "The way I see it, when you went into confinement, you were Kira. And then the killings stopped. Up until then, it makes sense that you were Kira. But after two weeks, the killings resumed. Based on my thinking is that Kira's power passed from person to person. The second Kira's video even mentioned that the power could be shared…" He trailed off.

"That's an interesting theory, but if that is the case, then catching Kira will be difficult." Light commented.

"Yes… That's why I'm depressed…" the detective sighed.

Light gave him a thoughtful look. "But that's not definite yet. There are too many things that we don't understand about Kira right now." He reached across the couch and placed his hand on L's shoulder, and he felt the detective tense under his touch. "Come on, show some energy."

"Energy…?" L drawled, pulling a finger up to his lips. "I'm just not feeling it… Why even bother…?"

Light's eyes narrowed, feeling anger swell in his body. _He's giving up… Because his stupid theory didn't work?_

"Trying to go after him just puts us in danger…" L went on. "Don't you agree? I've thought I was going to die so many times already…"

Light stood up, his head down. He pulled up his right hand, squeezing it into a fist in his anger. "Ryuzaki…" he muttered through clenched teeth, glaring down at the detective as he gave him a questioning glance.

Then, right as they made eye contact, Light drove his fist right cross L's pale face. Misa shrieked in alarm as L went flying, throwing Light across the room with him. L slowly pulled himself up, bending over in an awkward position. A bruise was beginning to show on his cheek. "Ouch."

"Don't be ridiculous! Just because I'm not the true Kira… Just because you were wrong, you want to give up?!" Light demanded. "Are you going to sulk like a baby?!"

L hesitated, pulling his hand timidly in front of his face. "I may have worded it poorly but… I'm saying that continuing this isn't going to get us anywhere good, so maybe we should just stop…"

"What are you talking about? Unless we chase him, there's no way we'll catch Kira! Who's the one who swore to send Kira to his execution?!"

When L failed to show any emotion, Light clutched his shirt and jerked his body towards him. "The Police. The FBI agents. TV announcers. How many innocent people do you think have been victimized?! You're the one who put Misa in confinement!"

"I understand that…" L murmured, his voice low next to the screaming Light. "But whatever the reason…"

The detective pulled himself down before thrusting his foot upwards, kicking Light square in the jaw, sending them flying again. "Once is once!"

After they landed on the other side of the room, L continued. "It's not just that my reasoning was wrong. It's the fact that I can say that Light Yagami is Kira and Misa Amane is the second Kira, but it wouldn't be enough to solve the case. So I'm a little disappointed. I'm human- that's not allowed?"

"No, it's not," Light replied, pulling himself up. "The way you talk, it's like you won't be satisfied unless I am Kira!"

L lifted himself into a feral-like crouch. "Not satisfied unless you're Kira…?" he mumbled before standing up all the way. "Yes, that may be true… I have just realized something… I wanted you to be Kira."

Light through another punch at L's face, but this time the detective held his ground. "Once is once. I'll have you know that I'm quite strong."

The pair then began physically fighting, through punches and kicks at each other. Then, as both boys were about to punch each other, the phone rang. L picked it up with his thumb and index finger, lifting it up to his ear. "Yes?" he said calmly, despite the tense situation.

"We did it, Ryuzaki!" Matsuda's eager voice came through the other end.

"What happened?"

"Misa-Misa was number one in the eighteen magazine reader poll! Her disappearing for two months created tons of buzz and actually increased her popularity!"

"Yes… I see…" L muttered, not interested.

"Come on, show a little more excitement… This means she'll be starring in director Nishinaka's next movie!"

L dropped the phone make on to the receiver, hanging it up.

"What was it?" Light asked, panting slightly.

"Nothing, just Matsuda being an idiot again." the detective replied.

"Well, he is a little slow."


	9. Chapter 9

Three couches circled a polished, wooden table in the middle of a large room. On the end couch sat a teenage boy in tight leather with shoulder-length blonde hair. He had a chocolate bar gripped tightly in his right hand as he cast a hateful glance at the boy to the right at him.

The boy had white, curly hair and was dressed in white pajamas. He was currently concentrated on building a very elaborate dice tower and was quite unaware of the looks Mello, the blonde, was giving him. And if he was aware, it wasn't bothering him much.

A redhead sat on the other side of Mello, his legs cross and his feet propped up comfortably on the table. A cigarette hung from his mouth, occasionally dropping ashes in his lap. He was staring intently through yellow goggles at a game he had been playing for hours and didn't seem to care what was happening around him.

On the couch to the right of that one sat two older men, one in his mid-twenties and the other one in his early twenties. One of them had spiky, disheveled black hair with matching obsidian eyes. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt and baggy jeans. He was currently focused on a slice of shortcake in front of him, breaking off a piece and bringing it to his expectant lips.

To the right of him was a man with caramel brown hair and matching honey eyes. The hair was fixed to perfection with not a strand out of place. Similarly, his outfit was very neat and formal with not a wrinkle in sight. He sat with his legs crossed and his arms folded over his chest.

And finally across from the two men sat a man all in his lonesome (Mostly because the others were slightly afraid of him.) He strongly resembled L, the man with the cake. His hair wasn't spiked up, however. Instead it was brushed out and appeared almost silky. His black orbs darted around the room almost in a look of insanity as he dug his finger into a jar of strawberry jam, bringing said finger up to lick the sugary substance off.

The man who was addressing all of them was an inventor known as Watari. He was wearing black, formal suit and had his arms pulled behind his back. He bowed in respect before speaking in an aged voice, "Thank you all for being here today.

"About that, Watari-san," L began, bring his gaze up from the half-eaten desert in front of him. "You refused to tell any of us why we are here in the first place. Do you mind explaining yourself?"

Ripples of agreement spread through the other men, most of them preoccupied in their activities.

"I am glad you asked, L," Watari answered to the man directly before moving his gaze to everyone in the room. "Roger and I have recently discovered a… problem that we would like to address."

Light, the brunette, raised an eyebrow. "Problem…? What do you mean?"

The elderly man took a deep breath. "It's just that… Well… All of you have an addiction or behavior that is just odd. Most of them aren't very healthy either."

"We do not!" Mello hollered through a mouthful of chocolate.

Watari raised an eyebrow, his forehead wrinkling. "Oh? You don't have even the _slightest _addiction to chocolate, Mello?"

"I would hardly consider it an addiction. I just happen to enjoy eating it," the teenager countered, holding the half-eaten bar of chocolate close to his chest possessively.

"Mello, that is your fifth chocolate bar in thirty minutes. What do you consider it?"

"It's not… I'm not… You just mind your own business," Mello snapped, biting into the chocolate bar angrily.

Watari smirked. "That's what I thought. Now-"

"Just wait a second, Watari-san," L interrupted. "I don't see what addictions you are specifying. Mello likes chocolate a lot, but what about the rest of us?"

"L, you're the world's greatest detective and you can't see it?" L blinked blankly. Watari sighed. "Here, if I must. Matt is addicted to cigarettes and playing video games, Near can't go a day without stacking something, Beyond creates unhealthy murder fantasies and eats too much jam, Light is a perfectionist, and you are addicted to cake. Or anything sweet, rather."

The room exploded into a frenzy of complaints.

"I am most certainly _not _a perfectionist!"

"Stacking things is not an unhealthy practice, it just helps me think!"

"Video games promotes hand eye coordination!"

"My sugar consumption is none of your business, Watari-san!"

"Quiet… Quiet…" Watari's voice slowly rose in volume. "_Quiet!" _

The whole room instantly fell silent. The elderly man sighed in relief. "_Now. _I know that you are all in a severe state of denial, and that's okay. But the sooner we address and fix this, the better," He paused, waiting to see if any of the geniuses in the room had any input. They were pleasingly silent for the moment, which is quite rare. "We have set a up an establishment where we will attempt to wean you off your behaviors and addictions-"

"I object this intervention!" L declared, stabbing his fork into his final chunk of cake.

"Overruled!" Watari shot back. L blinked, stunned.

Light narrowed his eyes. "I'm with L on this one. Our behaviors and… _addictions _are our business, not yours."

"You are all some of the most intelligent people on the planet. Consumption of sugar increases your risk to diabetes, cigarettes can destroy your lungs, and narcissism can cause you to do rash, self-centered actions. We are going to try to avoid all of these things as much as possible, as they are a risk to your health and others."

"…Are you suggesting the idea of a sober house?" Near inquired, looking up from the dice _castle_ he had now created.

"More or less," Watari answered. "We will have specialists there to work you out your issues- it'll be quite the journey, don't you agree?"

"L does not stay at sober houses and L does not have any health hazards," L said firmly, unfolding from his crouched position and shoving his hands in his jean pockets. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Watari-san…"

"L, if you leave now, I won't provide a dime for you a moment longer. No more sweets, clothing, technology… If L died early due to diabetes…"

"…Then crime rates would rise by forty-four point five percent," L finished with a sigh, reluctantly sitting back down beside Light.

Watari gave an approving nod. "Exactly. Near and Mello aren't ready for that-"

"I sure as hell am!" Mello interrupted, as if the elderly man had just challenged him. He had leaped up from the couch, silver wrapping paper crushed in his grasp. "Give me your best murderer, I can arrest him!"

"Mello, you are getting off topic. Sit down," Watari sighed.

"Plus I am the best murderer," Beyond said with a sadistic grin. "Come on, arrest me."

"Beyond _not now," _the inventor said with another exasperated sigh. "We might just send you off to a psychotic hospital instead."

Beyond grinned again. "But then I wouldn't get to use…" the raven-haired man pulled out a shiny, brand new switch blade. It glinted maliciously in the fluorescent brightness of the ceiling light. "This."

Mello smacked his hand against his forehead loudly. "Who the _fuck _bought him that?" By the end of his sentence, the teenager had already unwrapped another chocolate bar.

"Now seems like the perfect time to move on," Watari said quickly, giving the knife a worried look. "Everyone, put your addiction in the middle of the table. L, your sweets. Matt, your carton of cigarettes and your games. Mello, your chocolate. Light, your comb. Near, all of your dice and cards. Beyond, your jam and …weapons."

They all hesitated, exchanging glances as if considering refusal.

Watari sighed again. "_Now._"

Slowly but surely, the men began to empty their pockets, piling their obsessions in the middle of the table. Three cartons of cigarettes, two game boys, a PSP, five chocolate bars, eight mints, eleven sugar cubes, two combs, over one hundred dice, five decks of cards, two jars of strawberry jam, and three knives. Watari blinked at the sight, but wasn't overly surprised.

"Now, tell me what you see."

"Our possessions," L deadpanned, his fingers itching to grab one of his mints.

"Your _addictions," Watari corrected. "The average human does not carry around eleven sugar cubes and eight mints in their pockets."_

"_I am not the average human," L pointed out, giving into temptation and grabbing one of the white and red swirled candies and popping it in his mouth._

"_But your body behaves like one," He swept his gaze over the others who were also looking like they wanted to snatch up their items right then and there. "Everyone stand up and leave your things on the table. I'm going to personally fly you to the establishment."_


	10. Chapter 10

L sighed inaudibly as he traveled down the busy streets of the Los Angeles. Watari's worrying never ceased to amaze him, and this is definitely a new level of paranoia. Sure, L had a bit of a sweet tooth. One that was a lot stronger than most. But really, what is the probability that his love for sucrose would actually prove hazardous to his health?

Very high, according to Watari.

This is why he is even in the City of Angels in the first place. Watari decided that, after the monthly bill for food came in at around one thousand dollars, L had a serious problem that needed to be addressed and taken care of accordingly. To put it simply, his caretaker has registered for him to stay at a rehab facility for the next thirty days.

Really. Rehab.

That's where alcoholics, drug addicts- things of that nature go. Was L a crack-head? Most certainly not. His addiction was actually quite innocent compared to some. But, according to Watari, if L were to contract diabetes and die, crime rates would rise by forty-four point five percent. Those statistics were painfully true, L realized, and decided that he would go along with Watari's little plan.

Thirty days. Really, how long could it take?

At least Watari had taken the decency to choose a high-class rehab facility. This is one of those programs that only celebrities and models could get into. L will certainly stick out like a sore thumb. He doesn't go to America too often, so he isn't familiar with the celebrities here. He could be sharing a room with the biggest pop culture singer in the country and he would be completely oblivious. Luckily, this facility is supposed to be famous worldwide, attracting all sorts of people. Only the best for the world's greatest detective.

It was also highly effective, apparently. Only five percent of the people entering the program came out still an addict. But obviously they have never met L. L is very stubborn. Once he has decided something, it's hard to change his mind. And L has decided that he will not shake his sugar addiction. The entire time he will be fantasizing about eating a slice of cake when he gets released. And he'll eat it right in front of Watari, as if to say, "You can't change my mind, don't waste your energy."

"L, we are almost there. Are you ready?" Watari's voice roused him from his thoughts.

L blinked blankly at the rearview mirror, making eye contact with his caretaker. "Of course, Watari-san. Entering a rehabilitation facility and losing my sweets for an entire month has always been a dream of mine."

Watari sighed, breaking eye contact for a moment before making it again. "You'll thank me for this, L. Trust me."

"Will I? I'm not feeling very grateful right now," L grumbled, shifted his feet over each other and biting his thumb moodily.

Watari's eyes flickered with amusement. "You're pouting like a child. Just wait until you walk out of that program eating like a normal human."

"Is Watari-san calling me abnormal?" L cut him off sharply.

"Just your eating habits. Everything else is completely fine," The car made a right turn through large, iron gates. Palm trees lined a polished, rock driveway and led up to a mansion-like building. An impressive stone fountain sat at the front, creating a soothing sound. It was definitely a high-class facility, that's for sure.

Watari parked the black limo in front of the entrance. "This is it, L."

"It is impressive," the raven-haired man allowed. "But I am still not happy about staying here."

"I didn't expect your feelings to change," Watari responded as he opened the door for L. "But like I said before, you will thank me in one month."

L unfolded from his crouched position on the leather seats to step out of the limo. "I hope so. I'm missing an entire month worth of solving cases."

"Consider it a vacation," the elderly man said cheerfully, closing the limo door and walking towards the entrance.

L trudged after him. "I pictured my vacation with a lot more cake and a lot less drunken celebrities."

Watari rang the doorbell before answering L over his shoulder. "This facility isn't just for alcoholics and drug addicts, L. It's for odd behaviors of all sorts."

"That's very comforting to know, Watari-san," L said monotonously, but the elderly man has known him long enough to detect the sarcasm in his voice.

Watari opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as the door was opened. A woman rubbed her right eye sleepily, her eyes have lidded in exhaustion. Her blonde hair was put up in two messy pigtails on the top, and lipstick that she was wearing was smeared a little on her face. The black tank top she was wearing had one strap hanging over her arm and her matching black skirt looked a little too short.

"This is Twin Oaks Rehab, do you guys want something?" she grumbled. The sun, which was behind fluffy white clouds before, came out to shine in her face. She flinched away and stepped back into the shade, as if she had been burned. L deduced that she must be hung-over. Some rehab program.

Watari gave L a nudge after a moment. L sighed. "I'm Ryuzaki, I am registered to stay here for a month."

Her face brightened a little. "Oh, really? We've been expecting you. We're all part of the one-month "journey"." She put emphasis on the word and made a face.

L stood there in silence again, not sure what to say. Where are the staff? Surely they should be welcoming people in, not the hung-over inhabitants. The woman tipped her head to the side. "What's wrong? Come on in, no need to be shy!"

Before L could say anything, she grabbed his pale arm and pulled him inside. He glanced over his shoulder long enough to see Watari wave in farewell and close the door. He narrowed his eyes. _He is just leaving me here? _He was roused from his thoughts by the blonde. "By the way, I'm Misa. Misa Amane."

L raised an eyebrow. "The Japanese model?"

Misa beamed. "You know me? You're the first one here besides Light that actually knows me!"

"Really?" L tipped his head to the side and nipped at his index finger nail. "You are quite talented."

Misa staggered further into the mansion, motioning for him to follow. "If you think I'm talented, then you _have to see Light. He's the most handsome male model I've ever seen!" She winked. "And he's my boyfriend."_

_L stood there, frozen. No particular reason really. Mostly the fact that it just hit him that he's going to be living with people like her for a month._

_Misa giggled again. "What's wrong, silly? Come on, you have to meet the others! We've been dying to meet you!"_

_L gave in and walked past a spiral stair case towards a back room. "You knew I was coming?" _

_Misa nodded as she walked into a wide room. "Yep! We had to wait for you so we could start. Don't worry, you aren't too late."_

_L followed her into a spacious room with four long, cream couches. On the couches many other men and one female. They were all chatting idly to themselves. Misa flinched as she took a seat beside a chestnut-haired man. "Guys, keep it down! I have the worst headache." _

_A man with shoulder-length blonde hair rolled his eyes. "Because you got fucking hammered last night and now you're hung-over."_

_Misa threw daggers at him with her brown eyes. "Shut up, Mello! Like you weren't stuffing your face with chocolate either." _

_The brunette beside her sighed. "Misa, calm down. You did have too much to drink last night."_

_Misa's eyes shone as she attached herself to the man's arm. Even though he just said the same thing as Mello did, only politer. "Oh, Light. If you hadn't done with me I don't know if I could've made the thirty days."_

_Light rolled his honey eyes and shoved her off of him. "You're wrinkling my clothes, Misa. You know how I am about things being perfect." _

"_Whoops, sorry Light!" Misa laughed. "Forgot you're here for being a perfectionist."_

_Light crossed his arms. "Perfectionist. Please, there's nothing wrong with wanting the best."_


	11. Chapter 11

"_The cycle is never ending…" _

A deep gray shinigami wrapped in bandages from neck to waist stood above a portal to the human world. Her one eye that was visible, her other one being covered by the bandages, glistened with interest as she watched the millions of people go about their daily lives below her. It seemed just like yesterday when the shinigami all crowded around the portals, desperate to catch even the smallest glimpse at the prodigy known as Light Yagami and his shinigami Ryuk.

Back then, those two were celebrities in the Shinigami Realm. The creatures who inhabited the empty, desolate wasteland had nothing better to do on their free time than to watch as Kira descended into insanity before finally being put to an end by his own shinigami. This was all too familiar amongst the gods of death.

"_Roughly every one thousand years, a shinigami drops his or her death note into the human realm and ultimately alters Earth's history forever. The most recent Kira was known as C-Kira who mainly killed the elderly, but that wasn't the Kira the shinigami took interest in. Light Yagami was the most notable Kira since the human that caused the Black Plague and his actions have sparked the curiosity of many death gods in their rotting world." _

She ran her sharp, obsidian claws over the dark leather absentmindedly as she stared into the window of a different dimension. The nails raked against the rough surface in a soothing motion, creating tiny scratches in the book's cover. Even though she should be writing the names of the creatures that interested her greatly into her own notebook, she thought that activity was pointless. Why kill such interesting creatures?

When she was first born, she killed humans to a science like most novice shinigami do. She would kill hundreds of humans in one Earth day, adding countless amounts of years to her lifespan. Now that hobby has grown boring to her like it has to the other gods of death she surrounds herself with. And with an overall lifespan of 80,143 years, the slaughter of _Homo sapiens_ just seemed like a waste of time.

She was the shinigami known as Nomi. She shared Ryuk's feelings of boredom and hopelessness for her homeland and yearned for something to do. Ultimately, she wanted to converse with those humans that interested her so greatly, bite into those apples that Ryuk had insisted were so _damn good, _and watch as whoever picked it up altered history with just the etch of a single name. One name changes history forever.

Nomi held the notebook over the translucent portal tentatively with just two claws, letting the black notebook sway back and forth. Her golden eye followed it with every swing. Should she drop it? Should she trust a human with her spare notebook? The outcome was never pretty in the past- the 467 past 'Kiras' all ended in death before the date on the counter above their heads. Should she seal that fate with another human? Most shinigami didn't care much about the wellbeing of humans. Ending their lives was their occupation after all. However, Nomi had a soft spot for some of them- a rare thing in a god of death. Most were absent of any emotions other than greed. But Nomi felt a little mercy for the creatures that were like ants to her- interesting to watch.

"I wonder…" she mused to herself as she watch the book slow to a stop between her claws. Her voice was deep and rusty like most shinigami's were, but hers had a high-pitched feminine undertone that identified her as a female. "…what a human would do this time? How would they use the note? What would be their demise?"

"_One death note, one shinigami, one human. The mixture of these three things alters the course of history forever for even writing one name changes the life of many. But playing God is a dangerous game and many humans have found that the job is almost impossible to bear. Judging humans is not a human's job. Playing with fate is too dangerous for creatures that don't even understand it." _

"Hyuk hyuk… What are you going on about, Nomi?"

The snap of a dead tree branch and the deep, ragged voice cause Nomi to jump and the death note to slip out of her grasp. Thanks to her quick reflexes, she quickly snatched the book right before it made contact with the portal. She sighed in relief before turning in the direction of the voice, her eyes flashing with irritation. "Ryuk, how long have you been standing there?"

The shinigami's twisted smile seem to smirk more than usually as he chuckled softly. "Long enough. Are you thinking about dropping a death note into the human realm?" He pointed a claw at the note that Nomi held protectively against her bandaged chest.

Nomi tightened the grip. "Maybe." The two stood there in silence a few more minutes before the female shinigami broke it, "Say, Ryuk… What was he like? Light- your human?"

Ryuk sat down on a rock nearby and pulled out an apple from the shinigami realm. Honestly, Nomi didn't understand how he ate them. They were as dry as sand and had a taste so bitter, it made black coffee seem sweet. Despite these things, Ryuk still bit into it, grimacing slightly before swallowing it down. "Why are you interested in Light?"

"Was he as interesting as the rest of the shinigami realm made him seem?" she elaborated, taking a seat on the dead log beside the portal. "Was he worth it?"

"That depends. He did ease my boredom for quite a while, but those days seems like ages ago to me. Almost like a dream." Ryuk stuffed the rest of the apple inside his mouth before coughing, a puff of dust coming out of his mouth- probably from the apple. "If you are hoping to find a human like Light, the likelihood is very low. But I would gladly watch the end result if you try to." His yellow eyes flashed. "I've been looking for some entertainment."

Nomi nodded and stared down at the portal beside her absentmindedly. The notebook was still pressed tightly against her, as if the very thought of it falling to the ground was unthinkable. A few more moments of silence passed by before Ryuk's cackling interrupted it. "You are just like a human. You are worried about the human's fate, right?"

"I would hate to cause one of them to suffer as much as Light did," Nomi responded, not looking up. "Or Misa. Or the countless others who died from coming into contact with the notebook. Even Rem died because she dropped it. What if dropping a note caused me to die, Ryuk?"

"It will with an attitude like that," Ryuk answered simply. "The only way to kill a shinigami is for one to kill to increase a human's lifespan. If you killed to protect the human you possess, then you would meet the same fate as Rem. As for the death of humans, they were always meant to die. No humans are immortal. And most humans with the death note suffer in the end. Most kill themselves." His smirk grew, but his tone stayed casual. "But who knows? Maybe you will find the one human that doesn't suffer. Even Light met a painful end."

Nomi's fingers glided over the yellowed pages of the death note, taking Ryuk's words into consideration. Finding a human that will use the death note's abilities for decent intentions are one in ten million- a true diamond in the rough. What is she finds some scum like the third Kira? Higuchi was truly selfish and vain, using the note only to increase the amount of money in his pocket. She might have to kill a human who was that disgusting. Ryuk was right: she is just like a human. She mentally shrugged. At least someone was around here.

"…I think I might be willing to take that risk," Nomi finally answered after thinking it over. "If I get a human that is disappointing then I can always start over, right?"

Ryuk shrugged. "That's your choice. Wouldn't that cause even more humans to suffer? The thing you are trying to avoid?" Nomi flinched at his words. Ryuk chuckled a bit at the sight of this and continued. "How's about we move to a more interesting topic… How did you gain a second notebook?"

Nomi ran her claws over the leather-like material. "How do you think I got one?"

Ryuk snorted. "Certainly not by tricking the old man."

"The same way you got yours," Nomi muttered, her visible eye falling down to the black notebook in her arms. "I stole it."

"Well, well. I didn't know you had it in you," Ryuk laughed mockingly. "Who'd you steal it from?"

Nomi's eye rose from the book to meet Ryuk's. "You'd tell."

"Not if you told me not to," Ryuk's eyes glistened with interest. "If you don't want me to talk, then my lips are sealed."

Nomi sighed in defeat and placed the notebook on her bony thighs. "Fine. I stole it from that new shinigami."

Ryuk raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "Oh? A new shinigami?"

"Yeah. The one that wears goggles and carries a scythe," Nomi replied, motioning to her forehead with her bandage-covered hands. As she did so, her body shifted, causing the black notebook to slide off her legs and onto a rock next to the portal. It teetered for a split second before losing its balance and falling in, passing through their dimension and into the human realm. Nomi's eyes flashed in alarm. "Damn it."

Ryuk's gangly body shook as he laughed. "Looks like you have to go get it."

Nomi hissed in annoyance. "Ryuk, you know it's hard to locate a notebook in the human realm. It took you at least a week to figure out where you dropped yours at."

He simply shrugged. "Either look for it, or wait for a human to find it first. Your choice."

Nomi's wings unfolded and spread out, ripping out of her bandages. They were long and ragged and looked like someone had taken giant scissors to a pair of bat wings. Despite this, they were still fully functional and able to hold Nomi's three hundred pound body weight. (She stands at eight foot, easily beating out a human's height, and the reason why her body weight is so high. Technically, three hundred pounds is near-anorexic for her size.) She gave them a few experimental flaps before standing up and hovering above the log she was sitting on.

Ryuk watched her. "Are you going to fly all over the human realm? Because that might take a while. Not to mention that you could get in trouble with the old man if you're caught there without a human to possess."

Nomi pondered this for a moment. It's true- flying all around the human realm could take months. And being there without a human to possess is strictly against the rules and could result in death for her. Normally a shinigami can't kill another shinigami but the Shinigami King has… special powers, to say the least.

This realized, Nomi reluctantly retracted them back. The bandages crawled back over them, as if they were alive, and covered them completely. She fell back on the rotten log, feeling defeated. "Then what do I do?"

"There's a trick about dropping notes that I guess you aren't familiar with yet," Ryuk commented and pulled out another dry apple.

Nomi looked up from the dusty ground. "What trick?"

"Whatever country, city, or continent you were watching at the time- the death note has a ninety-eight percent chance of landing in that area." Ryuk bit into the shriveled up fruit hungrily, only to be disappointed by the sand and dust inside.

Nomi rolled her eye, but it was easy to notice the excited spark in them. "Well, someone neglected to tell me _that helpful piece of information."_

_He shrugged. "Not my fault." His voice was slightly muffled through the bitter apple. _

_Nomi gave him an irritated looked before turning her body towards the portal so she can peer down into it. The bark crumbled underneath her and fell in a pile on the gray ground beside her. Nomi grumbled in frustration, wiping the excess bark off of her. "Is anything alive around here anymore?"_

"_Well, there's us," Ryuk said as he gulped the rest of the apple down. He seemed to be trying hard to suppress a shiver as it slid down his throat and into his stomach, probably leaving a trail of grainy dust on the way down, causing him to cough. His body contorted as he let out a few hacks before finally calming down. "…I swear those things are poison." _

_Nomi chuckled. "Tell you what. If I go to the human realm, I'll bring us both back a basket of apples. Juicy, ripe apples. Not those dead things you call food."_

_Ryuk's eyes glistened at the thought. "I haven't eaten one of those since my days with Light." _

"…_But," Nomi continued, her eyes scanning the portal. "…if I'm forced to possess a human, I'll have to stay there. That would mean no apples for you." _

_Ryuk stretched, his whole body bending in an abnormal fashion, before standing. "You're bribing me?"_

"_You could say that," the bandage-covered shinigami replied simply. "You going to help?" _

_Ryuk began to stroll over to the portal lazily. "I suppose. If I go back to the clearing, those other shinigami will just ask me to play life poker with them again. I'd hate to steal what little years they have left." _

"_Or lengthen your time here," Nomi added with a small smirk. Her teeth were sharp and fang-like, two of which stuck out of her mouth in a vampire-like fashion. They were tinged in yellow and contrasted with her deep purple lips. Her skin was a pale white and had several cracks, as if her skin was as dry as the apple Ryuk was eating. Half of her face was covered by slightly yellow bandages. _

_Ryuk settled himself on a rock across from Nomi. His red pupils flickered down to the portal before going back up to meet Nomi's. "Not really. After all when we die, we're just reduced to a pile of sand and nothing more."_

_Ryuk did have a point. Shinigami aren't graced with the possibility of going to heaven or hell because technically they are gods themselves- able to pass judgment on others. And, since the death of a shinigami is rare in the first place, giving them a place to go to after death just seems pointless. The Shinigami King said once that the only reason a shinigami would die in the first place is if they stopped writing names down. So why should shinigami that lazy be rewarded to an afterlife? Now that Nomi thought about it, even existing in itself is better than not existing at all- even if it means existing in a world like this._

"_So you were watching America at the time?" Ryuk's voice interrupted her thoughts and almost made her jump in alarm._

_Once settled, Nomi shrugged. "It's an interesting country with interesting people. Why not?" _

"_No reason," Ryuk answered simply. His red eyes scanned over the portal as it transitioned between the fifty states. Impatient already, he continued after a moment. "Why couldn't you have been watching a single state instead of the whole country?" _

"_I didn't see a difference between them," the bandage-covered shinigami replied. "Quit complaining and just look." _

_Ryuk grunted in response but said nothing more. They sat there for a while afterwards, watching the portal slowly transition between states, cities, and even districts and streets. They made idle chitchat, but otherwise kept quiet. It was obvious that Ryuk was bored of the activity by the way he kept looking up and the way he drummed his fingers against the cold, dark rock he was sitting on. Nomi searched on, however. She decided she didn't want another human to suffer a twisted and painful end and hoped that she could retrieve her note as soon as possible. She didn't even want a human to spare the wretched thing a glance._

_After hours of searching, Nomi finally sighed and dragged her eyes away from the portal. "Is there any way to speed up with process, Ryuk?"_

_Ryuk cackled softly as the portal switched again. "Too late for that." _

_Nomi blinked in alarm and frustration. "What? What is it?" Something told her to look down at the portal, but she was afraid of what she would see._

_The dark shinigami pointed a single black claw down towards the portal, his clown-like grin even more profound. He found this amusing somehow. "Take a look." _

_Nomi reluctantly tilted her head downwards, her gaze following the motion. A young woman with dirty blonde hair was kneeling on a sidewalk outside a tall building. She wore a long, white coat and a pair of pale green scrubs. A stethoscope was wrapped around her neck, which glistened in the bright sunlight. Her eyes flickered with curiosity as she examined a black notebook in her grasp. Etched on the front in English read 'Death Note'. It seems the new shinigami was familiar with English as well. The woman who looked young enough to be in college tipped her head. "Death Note? What an interesting name for a notebook." _


	12. Chapter 12

_Beeeeeeeeeeep…._

"He's crashing!"

I leaped up from my spot in the waiting room, pager in hand, and rushed back into the critical care unit. The hospital had the CCU built close to the front so doctors can easily reach it without racing back into the rear of the hospital. It was helpful, I had to say. Most patients who entered the CCU didn't make it out alive.

My stethoscope was bouncing off of my chest as I dashed into CCU Room 192- the room of a car accident victim. A young man in his twenties laid on the hospital bed, tubes and IVs stuck in every hole or vein imaginable, his skin on his face burnt beyond recognition. There were already other CCU doctors ripping his hospital gown off and wheeling in the crash cart. The single, high pitched sound echoed in my head and bounced off the room around me. I didn't have to look up to the screen to see the flatline.

"Who is this patient's doctor?" a middle-aged woman huffed as she grabbed the shock paddles of the cart.

I blinked before realizing that I had to answer. "Dr. Stevens, but he isn't in right now. I'm a part of the critical care unit team that's treating him."

The woman was rubbing the paddles together vigorously. Her dark brown hair was frizzed from a long day at work and the bags under her eyes showed of hours of sleepless nights. "Do you know the patient's info?"

The data spilled into my head and poured out my mouth. "Simon Jacobs. Twenty-six years old. Caucasian male. Car accident victim. He was driving a year 2000 Honda Odyssey and collided head-on with an eighteen-wheeler. The Odyssey caught on fire on impact, thus resulting in first degree burns-"

"Trauma?" She stopped rubbing the paddles. "Charging…" The paddles were placed on the patient's bare chest. "Clear!"

His body jumped like a fish out of water as the electricity surged through him. I gulped. This part always got to me- when the patient is already dead and we have to resuscitate them. The heart monitor's alarm still rang in my ears and the doctors were moving so fast- everything just blurred together like some sort of bad dream.

"Damn it." the woman hissed under her breath before starting to rub the paddles again. Her intense gaze shifted back to me. "Doctor! Any trauma?!"

I jumped a bit as I was jerked back into reality. Oh, right. Trauma. "Ten broken ribs, five fractured, skull fracture, broken wrist and pelvis, fractured femur on both legs, punctured lungs, broken humerus on the right arm, and internal bleeding in the abdomen and head area." I breathed heavily after reciting the information.

The woman's eyes flashed as her rubbing came to a halt. They were distant, staring at something that wasn't there. "Swelling in the brain. We have to ease the pressure…" They snapped back to me. "Get me a bone saw and a scalpel! Now!"

"B-but!" My voice shook. She was being quite forceful and it was startling- I'm only a medical _student _after all. I still have a few years left in training. "We can only operate in the OR-"

"We don't have time!" she roared over the deafening ringing sound. She pointed angrily at the unmoving patient in the hospital bed, her eyes wild. "He's going to die if we don't do _something! _Now get me a bone saw and a scalpel!"

A nearby male doctor placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Dr. Adams. It's been six minutes- the brain has gone without oxygen for too long," he spoke gently. "It's too late; we have to call the time of death."

Dr. Adams blinked. Her intense face softened a bit to a more deer-in-headlights kind of face. "B-but…"

The man's hand left her shoulder to flick off the ventilator beside him. I don't see why it was on in the first place if it wasn't succeeding in aiding the patient in breathing, but it's not like it matters now. The patient was dead. And you know what the most disturbing part was? I didn't feel as shell-shocked as the last time I watched a patient die. I just felt empty and detached, like I was watching a TV show.

The man's gaze moved to catch mine. "Can you please turn off the heart monitor, Dr…?"

"Lillian. Lillian Allbright- Dr. Lillian Allbright," I stumbled over my words. My tone was lacking its usual color and seemed drained. Is this what all doctors sound and feel like after they learn to cope with the pain?

I reached up and unplugged the heart monitor. The single tone sound abruptly stopped as soon as the plug left the socket, but it still rang in my ears.

The woman, who before was hysterical, was now stone-cold and calm as she recorded the time of death before walking briskly out of the room. My gaze followed her before breathing out a heavy sigh. The man smiled sympathetically from across the room. His gentle hands pulled the hospital blanket over the patient's head and chest, covering up those nasty burn marks. "It's okay. There's nothing you could have done. Even if you had retrieved the bone saw and scalpel, the patient would have died from infection. Surgery takes place in the OR for a reason."

I nodded absently. "It is the most sterile room the hospital and doctors are forbidden to enter it without gloves or a mask."

He chuckled as he took out the IVs. The blanket covering the body's scarred face pushed to the side momentarily so the doctor could take out the breathing tube as well. "We aren't the best hospital in the country for no reason. Even our medical students are sharp."

"I graduated top of my class," I informed for no reason in particular. The color was starting to come back to my voice, even though the patient was still dead in front of me. Why is recovering becoming easier? It isn't right.

"Impressive," the doctor approved. "You'll make a fine doctor one day, Dr. Allbright." He pulled out the final IV before pulling the hospital bed around to face the doorway. I didn't notice the beds had wheels until now; most doctors moved bodies onto stretchers instead. I guess this way is just as convenient. "You've seen enough. It's nearly noon, why don't you go take a lunch break? No one will mind."

I managed a smile and turned to leave. "Thank you, doctor."

He hummed in response. After hearing this, I started towards the elevator. The cafeteria was on the third floor as well as other gift shops or stores to make our long-term patients feel more at home.

I was employed at Northbridge Teaching Hospital, which was connected to Northbridge University. We were the top hospital in America and we were best known for our cancer department. The team of doctors I worked with doubled as a CCU team and a cancer team. We get the worst of both worlds, so to speak.

To my disappointment, the elevator was under maintenance and wasn't running, which mean I would have to take the stairs. The stairs were located close by. Large windows to the right of the staircase poured in sunlight and made the small area feel more open. My hand found the railing as I started up the stairs. My eyes naturally moved to the window, examining every detail about the courtyard below. It was surprisingly empty today, probably because it was lunch hour and many people in the hospital were eating at the moment. Still, it was a beautiful area with crisp, green grass and flowers of many different species growing in patches around stone benches. It was bordered with a bleach white sidewalk which led to the entrances of the hospital.

It was a familiar sight considering the elevator also had a window on the rear wall and I found myself gazing at the landscape quite often. This time, however, I got to see something different. Seemingly out of no where, a black notebook fell a fast rate to the sidewalk. The papers fluttered as it descended from the sky, captivating me. It seemed mysterious and I had the strong urge to touch it, observe it. I lifted my wrist while keeping part of my gaze on the notebook that was laying on the sidewalk. 11:53 read my digital watch. I have time before I'm due back to my hospital duties.

And just like that I was making my way back down the flight of stairs, was rushing past the ER doctors wheeling in a patient, and through the front entrance of the hospital. That notebook felt special somehow and I didn't want anyone to get to it before I did.

As I rushed out the sliding doors, I passed a man in a navy blue suit. His hair was thinning a bit, but was still dark brown. His face was wrinkled slightly, but he didn't look any older than fifty. He spun around just as I passed him. "Dr. Allbright, where are you going?" he called after me.

"Lunch break, Stevens," I huffed over my shoulder. I had already ran a good distance away from the hospital, and I was already turning around to the side west side where the courtyard was located. "I'll be back, promise!"

"Check on the cancer patient in room 487 when you get back!" I heard him yell as I dashed out of sight.

Replying seemed pointless because I couldn't yell as loud as he could, so I just kept running. The courtyard was in sight now, only a few yards away. The black rectangular notebook was still laying on the sidewalk, and at closer view it appeared that there was something written on the cover.

Curiosity fueling me on, I began to take long strides until I was standing right over the book. I huffed in exhaustion, the cold December air nipping at my face and turning it a bright red. My hair had frizzed up from running and felt out of place and I had to resist the urge to run my hands through it. The notebook was more important right now.

I knelt down so that the grass tickled my ankles so I could run my fingers over the cover. It felt like leather, a softer version of leather. It was black as night and had the words 'Death Note' written in strange, white letters on the front.

I picked the black book up to examine it closer, my fingers stroking the cover as I observed it. "Death Note… What a strange name for a notebook."

"You know, she could always put it back down. You don't have to reveal yourself to her unless she uses it," Ryuk reminded Nomi as they watched Lillian flip through the notebook.

Nomi traced patterns on the rotting log with a single black claw. She wasn't really paying attention to the medical student on the portal anymore, as if watching was painful. "She won't put it back down. Not without trying it first."

Ryuk shrugged in a nonchalant way. "Who knows. Either way, you owe me some apples. I sat with you for hours."

Nomi didn't reply this time, only keeping her single, visible eye on the swirls her claw was making in the spongy wood.

I flipped open the cover. To my surprise, there were instructions on the other side, written in the same, odd white letters. They reminded me of Egyptian hieroglyphics mixed with English. It was readable, but was strange nonetheless. I read over the words in front of me. "How to use it… 'The human whose name is written in this note shall die'." I sighed. "Is this how crummy society is these days? Not like this is believable anyway… It's about as real as those chain letter emails or scary movies…"

Despite my doubts, I continued reading. " 'This note will not take effect unless the owner has the person's face in their mind while writing his or hers name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.'" My eyes flickered with amusement. "Well, they definitely put some thought into this, I'll give them that…"

"Allbright!" I jumped, startled, and looked over my shoulder. My boss, Dr. Stevens, was standing on a balcony on the third floor. And he didn't look amused that I wasn't on a lunch break like I originally told him. "What are you doing out there?"

Whoops. I was caught. "Oh, uh, n-nothing!" I slipped the notebook into one of the interior pockets of my long, white coat and flashed an innocent smile. "Just getting some fresh air!"

Dr. Stevens sighed, his forehead wrinkling in frustration. "The patient in 487 needs a round of kemo and radiation, and the rest of the team is busy. I'm not paying you for getting fresh air."

I scrambled up to my feet and brushed grass and leaves off of my legs and coat. "R-right! I'll be right in, sir!"

"Right…" He turned to go back into the hospital. He looked back over his shoulder, his face friendlier than before. "Next time you 'take a lunch break', at least leave the campus so you can't get caught."

I smirked and pushed a few strands of blonde hair out of my face. "I'll keep that in mind, Stevens."

I entered the cancer department of the hospital holding bags of medicine for the chemotherapy. Room 248 was fairly close to the entrance, being only ten doors down. The black notebook bounced with every step I took and I had to resist the urge to pull it out and read it. It was highly irrelevant to my job and if a patient reports me, I could get suspended from learning under Stevens. That wouldn't look good on future applications.

I took a right into the designated room and smiled warmly at the human in the bed. It was teenager who was supposed to be in his junior year. Cancer wasn't that nice, however, and so instead of enjoying his last years of high school, he was stuck in the small room getting treated for brain cancer. His type was terminal- he wouldn't be leaving alive. Chemo and radiation just lengthened his time here.

His fluffy brown head of hair he had when he entered was gone now and white bandages covered the scar from where they had done surgery on his brain. Instead of extracting the cancer, however, it spread to the rest of his body. That was when the doctors through their hands up in defeat and gave him six months to live.

He smiled weakly. "Hey, Dr. Allbright."

"Hi, Michael," I greeted in reply. I held up the medication. "Ready for another round of chemo?"

He shrugged. "I guess. Not like I have a choice anymore."

I frowned as I walked over to the IV holders. "Why do you say that?" I hooked one of them up and took the needle in my other hand and slowly inserted it into his arm.

He winced as the needle pierced his vein, but didn't complain. "I've been here for five months. Three months ago they told me I was going to die. Now I have three months left." His chocolate eyes saddened. "It's just… I don't know. It doesn't seem worth it anymore."

"Of course it's worth it," I hooked up the other bag and repeated the action with the needle. "Your family and friends have more time to spend with you."

Michael sighed. "They aren't the same. They just act like they pity me. Every time, "Oh don't give up hope, Michael." "I'll pray for you, Michael"." His eyes welled up with tears. Sadness and anger reflected off of them as he looked up at me and his voice was slowly raising in volume. "I can't take it anymore! All I do is lay here all day and watch TV, eat, and do rounds of chemo. I can't even walk anymore because chemo and radiation made my legs too weak." His eyes trailed down to chest and he sighed. "I've said this before… But honestly, how can there be a god that everyone talks about being kind and beautiful and loving, when things like this happen to people? If he's responsible for everything that happens in the universe, then God's just evil."

Common psychology responses, I noted to myself. But still, it did hurt to hear. He has the rest of his life ahead of him then stupid cancer came and snatched it away. It must be awful living that way.

"I'd say it will be okay, but I'd be lying," I said carefully and gently. I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder tentatively, half expecting he'd slap it away. When he didn't, I continued, "I'd say I know what you're going through, but I don't. I'd say everything will get better, but it won't. All you can do is live out the rest of your life and make the best of it." I withdrew my hand and backed away. "And maybe a miracle will happen."

Michael bent his head down and mumbled almost inaudibly, "The only miracle that would happen is if this cancer got rid of me already." He looked back up at me. His eyes had lost all the fire that was there a few moments earlier and were empty and blank. "Can you leave? I'd rather be alone right now."

I checked on other patients throughout the day, but Michael's wish to die never left my thoughts. Even as I climbed into my black SUV to leave, his words haunted me. _"The only miracle that would happen is if this cancer got rid of me already." _I shook my head, as if to dislodge the thought from my mind, and started my car. Then right as I was about to back my car out, another thought came to my mind. The notebook. I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and retrieved the book from the interior of my coat. I lowered it to my lap so no one around the car could see it and examined it once more. "The human whose name is written in this note shall die…" I mumbled again, opening the notebook. I flipped through the two pages of rules before stopping at a black, lined sheet of paper. Something like that can't possibly exist, right…? A notebook that can kill? Surely it's just something out of science fiction. _If you're so sure, then write a name just to test it. _A voice in my head ordered. _The you'll be reassured, right? _I gulped. It's true. Just write a name, prove it's not real, then move on with your life. I opened my glove box and retrieved a pen. I clicked the pen out and slowly lowered it to the paper. "_What if I actually kill someone…?" _I thought, frowning down at the sheet of paper. _"What if it's real…?"_

"_The only miracle that would happen is if this cancer got rid of me already." _The words came back again, as if giving me a hint. I swallowed nervously. "R-right. Michael. It's not real anyway, so why worry?"

Slowly but surely, I because to write his name in the book. M-I-C-H-A-E-L A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R. I pictured his saddened face in my mind as I wrote the name, just as the book instructed.

I flipped back to the rules. "If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. So, forty seconds?"

I waited. Twenty seconds. Thirty. Thirty-five… Thirty-nine… "Forty," I breathed, lowering my wrist back down to the armrest. My other hand held the pager, which I looked at expectantly.

Forty-five. Fifty. "Pff. I can't believe I actually expected something to happen." I laughed. "What a joke."

I went to put the pager back into my coat, when suddenly… _Beep… Beep… Beep… _My eyes snapped down to the black object in my grasp. "N…No way…" _Beep… Beep… Beep… _

_It kept on beeping until I finally looked at the screen. I almost fainted at reading it._

"_Room 248. Patient Deceased. Cardiac Arrest." _


	13. Chapter 13

Hey, whoever happens to be reading this. I don't know why you wanna go through my personal thoughts and observations, but whatever. What you waste your time doing on your free time is your deal, not mine. If you haven't already figured this out, this diary belongs to a Shinigami. Death God. I'm one of many, and you can know me as Ryuk.

Unlike most of the other half-dead death gods in this worn-out Shinigami Realm, I wanted something more other than sitting around and writing names. So, in an attempt to have some fun, I chucked my book into the human realm. Now lemme tell you how that works. When a human touches that book, a death note, they become its owner. And I have to follow them around. The only good thing that comes from this is the occasional apple. Those humans are so goddamn lucky they get fruit with actual flavor.

Whoops, getting off topic. I've dropped my death note into the human realm more than once. Every human I came across were just boring. Either they didn't kill anyone, they screamed when they saw me, or a combination of the two. Wait- I didn't explain how the death note works. Let's keep it short and sweet. You write someone's name in it, they fall over dead. By heart attack. Moving on.

I killed every one of these owners within the month because I decided they weren't worth my time. The rules say I'm allowed to do that. Unfortunate for them, but hey. They should have been more interesting.

The only owner worth mentioning is Light Yagami. That kid is the exception. Not only did he find some use of the note, but he was smart about it. I'm sure you've heard of Kira, if you're a human. If so, that's Light. Freaking genius, let me tell you. Made me feel stupid at times, but I'm not the smartest Shinigami out there. I guess it helps he is one of the smartest people in Japan. And he's only eighteen, if I'm reading his lifespan right.

Light just recently put some crazy plan of his to the test when some other death note owner, Misa Amane, got captured by L. L is Light's enemy, rival, whatever you wanna call him. He's standing in Light's way, and apparently he's pretty smart too. I'm not taking any sides in this, by the way. We'll just get that over with now. Light may be the owner of the note, but if he gets too boring, I'm killing him. All the apples he gave me won't change that.

Anyway, Light just did some crazy thing involving Misa's notebook. He made Rem and I switch notebooks a couple of times, but I don't see what it did. (Rem is Misa's Shinigami.) Anyway, he made Rem take a notebook and give it to someone selfish, while he just buried mine in the middle of the forest. Not too sure what that did, but he had some creepy smile on his face like he just figured something genius out, so I let it go.

Apparently his genius plan was turning himself in to L, which in turn got him locked up. He got hand cuffed and thrown into a cell for fifty days. After about two weeks in, he gave up the death note. Not sure why, he was already caught by L, but whatever.

Whatever he had planned ended up working because he and Misa got out clean, except for Light is chained to L now. Pretty damn creepy, that guy is. Light doesn't have his memories anymore though, so those two are getting along all right. Actually, they're getting along great. If Light wasn't Kira, and L wasn't some super detective, they could be buddies.

The fact that they're getting along so great interests me, so I decided I would watch Light from the Shinigami Realm and record daily entries on what I watch. After all, he left me with nothing else to do but sit in this rotten world. I swear this place is worse than hell sometimes it's so boring.

Now Shinigami diaries are different from human diaries. When we record a memory, it's not written. It's an actual memory that is unlocked when you flip through it. Almost like you're watching a flashback of things I've seen. Pretty cool, huh? I'm going to write a short paragraph on my thoughts on this stuff too, so you know what I'm thinking. This should last until Light's plan works, whatever that is. So I hope he does something interesting, or you're just going to be watching a bunch of confusing police theories.


	14. Chapter 14

"What do you mean you won't do it, Rem?" Light was incredulous as he nearly screamed at the white Shinigami who watched him blankly.

"If I kill L now, surely you will pull Misa back into killing. I can't take the chance of that happening." Rem replied simply, her yellow eyes narrowed.

Light panted, his face seething with anger. "Of course she's going to kill! It's a _death note_. What else do you do with it?!"

"If they die now, while suspecting Misa, she will be immediately arrested. Not to mention the danger of her resuming the role as the second Kira. I simply can't allow it, Light Yagami."

Light massaged his temple, throwing Rem a vicious glare. "I went through all of this for you not to go through with it?" His voice rose as he finished his sentence. "You bastard!"

Light flung himself at the Shinigami. Not his best move, but he was far too angry to care. His fist was aimed right beside Rem's eye but instead of making contact, Light fell through the white Shinigami. His head slammed again the hard floor, blood trickling out onto the tile from his wound. Light began to slip out of consciousness, his thoughts becoming fuzzy.

Rem scoffed at the sight in front of her. "Humans are so pathetic."

_Ugh… Where… _Light's eyes fluttered open, fighting the bright light that attacked his eyes. His head pounded like metronome, the throbs hitting his temple in a painful pulsing sensation. It nearly matched the pattern of the heart monitor. "Ugh.." he moaned.

A figure immediately sprang up and shuffled over to Light's hospital bed. His eyes locked with those of a young looking man. He had a head full of black hair that hung messily in his face and slightly covered wide, black eyes. A white long-sleeved shirt and faded jeans covered pale, flawless looking skin. The man had his index finger in his mouth, hanging loosely on his bottom lip as he spoke to him. "Light-kun?"

_Light? What's that…? "Come again?" Light asked, massaging his forehead._

_The figure froze, his eyes flashing with panic as they swept over his body. After a moment of thinking, he opened his mouth to speak again. "Do you know who I am?"_

_Light opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again. Confusion washed over him. Did he know who he was? Did Light even know who himself was? He shook his head. "I can't say I do." _

_The man frowned. "Just as I feared. You must be suffering from amnesia."_

"_Amnesia…?" Light repeated thoughtfully. He was about to ask what that meant before a new question came to mind. "Do you know me?"_

"_Yes. You are my only friend, Light-kun." the man replied simply._

"_Light-kun…? So my name is Light?" _

_The raven-haired man nodded. "And you shall refer to me as Ryuzaki." _

"_Ryuzaki…" Light repeated thoughtfully. "And you said we're friends?" _

_L's gaze fell to the floor. "Yes, you could say that."_

_Light frowned as he thought things over in his head. "Friends are people who care for each other, right?"_

_L froze for a moment, his eyes distant. He brought his gaze back up to Light's, and Light could tell there was hurt reflecting off of them. "Yes."_

_Light smiled slightly before looking around the room. "You're the only one here. Do I not have any more friends?" _

"_You have a few. You've just been rather… busy lately." L said the last part quietly. _


	15. Chapter 15

It was an average day at the task force. L was scrolling through police reports, Light was doing something similar, Matsuda was out getting coffee (By L's request), and the rest of the task force was standing idly around the room. Nothing was new, the killings weren't surprising. The new Kira killed only to raise the business of Yostuba, so every death now was business leaders that stood in their way. Completely different when compared to the murders of the first and second Kira. So, when L read that Yoshura Tamura: leader of Moshiko Productions had died via heart attack, he wasn't surprised.

"Back!" Matsuda called in an exhausted tone as he entered the main room. L looked over his shoulder. The young police officer was carrying two boxes of donuts with five containers of steaming coffee sitting in a cup holder on top. L had not told him to get the donuts: it was probably another attempt to please him.

Matsuda walked over to the steel table at the back room and placed the contents of his arms on the surface. "I got chocolate-iced donuts, glazed donuts, and coffee for everyone!" the brunette cheered, opening the box of sugary-glazed donuts and bringing one to his grinning mouth.

"Thank you, Matsuda-san," L drawled as he fixed his gaze back on the computer screen. "Could you please bring me a chocolate donut and a cup of coffee?"

"Oh, sure, Ryuzaki," Matsuda mumbled through his donut. He selected L's requested items from the table before bringing it over to him.

L accepted his snack without looking up, bringing the chocolate donut over to give the icing a tentative lick. The handcuff that bound him to Light shifted uncomfortably over his flesh, the cold metal pressing against his warm body. He didn't seem to mind, however, as he continued to scroll through police reports. He paused for a moment to look up at the auburn-haired teen beside him.

"Anything new, Light-kun?" L asked the same thing he asked every hour as he stripped the donut completely of the chocolate.

Light, who was supporting his head with his hand in a tired manner, tilted his head slightly to give the detective a bored stare. "Nope, nothing."

L hummed in response as he took the first bite of his donut, returning his gaze back to the screen. Boring, not interesting, not new… These phrases echoed through L's head as he read reports in the blink of an eye. And just as if he was asking for something exciting, a police report came up that froze him in his tracks. _No… That is impossible… _He unconsciously gripped his knees until his knuckles turned white as he reread the report on the screen.

"Ryuzaki? What's wrong?" Light asked with a concerned tone.

L blinked, reading the group of sentences one last time.

_Serial killer breaks out of prison after several guards drop dead. The cause of death is believed to be heart attack. The serial killer is responsible for the group of killings called "The X Killings". Her location is unknown, though we have tips that she might have fled to The United States of America. She is extremely dangerous and is likely to kill again. _

"Extraordinary…" L said, his tone distant. His eyes flashed with rage and fear. "No… X has escaped."

Light tipped his head. "X? Who's X, Ryuzaki?"

L ignored him. His mind was racing. Normally, this wouldn't bother him if it was just any other serial killer. He's captured many of them in the past. But X did something more personal. X was the one who left him an orphan. X was the one that murdered his parents.

Contrary to popular belief, L had not always been an orphan and Whammy's House had not always been an orphanage. Whammy's House used to be called Whammy's Academy: a school for gifted students. He had been sent there as a child to heighten his sharp mental process. His parents were very much alive at this point and were doing only what they thought was best.

However, when L was around sixteen, his parents were murdered by a killer who called herself Extraordinary (L called her X for short). There was nothing extraordinary about her, except her little to no morals. She killed in the most gruesome ways, as if she enjoyed experimenting with her killings, and signed her bodies with a simple 'X' somewhere on the corpse.

L eventually captured the serial killer, but not before X killed three more times. And now the killer he held the biggest grudge again was free. He tightened his grip even more. _Not if I can do something about it._

"_Light-kun…" he spoke finally, giving Light a sideways glance through his raven locks._

_Light had been watching him curiously and had even jumped a little when L had spoken. "Yes, Ryuzaki?"_

_His eyes narrowed. "…We are leaving for America tomorrow."_


	16. Chapter 16

"America?" Light exclaimed, giving L a bewildered look. "Ryuzaki, are you serious?"

"Completely." he replied, his eyes hard. This was the last thing he was expecting to happen.

Soichiro stepped forwards, his eyes fiery. "You can't be serious! Light can't go to America."

"Give me one reason why he can't," L said, his tone bored as he stirred sugar into his coffee.

Soichiro blinked in surprise. There wasn't a reason that L hadn't already taken care of with the Kira case, but still Light's father didn't want him to travel across the globe with the world's greatest detective. The one who suspected him of being _Kira. "Why does Light have to go?"_

"_I would think that would be obvious, Yagami-san," L drawled, lifting his pale wrist to add emphasis to the fact that he was handcuffed to the auburn-haired teen._

"_What about Misa-Misa?" Matsuda interrupted from the table across the room. "She'll be heartbroken to be away from Light for so long."_

"_The situation at hand is far more serious than Misa-san's feelings for Light-kun." L replied firmly. He was starting to get highly irritated, but only let a hint of that seep into his voice. "Anything else?" _

"_Why can't we go?" Matsuda whined in a childish-like tone. "We're helpful to this case too."_

"_In this case, Light-kun will be the only help I'll require. And if all of us went, then who would stay here to work on the Kira case?"_

_Aizawa blinked. "You want us to work on the Kira case by ourselves?"_

"_We can't do that!" Matsuda added in, frowning. _

_L sighed almost inaudibly. But Light was close enough to hear it, so he decided to help, "Guys, it's fine. Ryuzaki and I probably won't be in American long. Plus you guys don't need to lean on L so much. You all are police officers too, right?" _

_Matsuda scratched his head. "He has a point… But I just can't see us getting anywhere without Ryuzaki's help."_

"_We will keep in touch with you about the case through phone calls." L said, fixing the problem. "Any other problems you would like to address?"_


	17. Chapter 17

Name: Miki Tamura

Gender: Female

Age: Nineteen

Appearance: Long, dark brown hair that is normally worn in long pigtails. She has bangs that stop at the base of her eyebrow. Her eyes are a warm chocolate color. She has a fair complexion.

Personality: Most of the time plays a false optimism and treats the world around her as something to annoy or irritate. She's very bubbly and nosy, which is what got her in the whole Kira mess. Not exactly the most intelligent one out there, she makes rash and hasty decisions based on her own personal emotions. Over time the Kira investigation matures her a little, and takes the edge off of her optimism. Manages to recruit L, Misa, _and _Light in friendship.

Height: 5' 4''

Weight: 100 lbs.

Blood type: AB

Birthday: April 22nd

Occupation:

Maid (Beginning)

Assisting L (First Kira & Yotsuba Arc)

Model (Near & Mello Arc)

Family:

Mail Jeevas (cousin)

I'm certain most of you are familiar with Kira. I mean, who isn't? He was the greatest criminal of all time, yet at the same time his goal was purest out of the rest. It's slightly sad that he met his demise in such a sad way. It's even more sad that I had the opportunity to know Kira on a more personal level. That being said, I also got the chance to know L. L was… interesting, to say the least. It was funny to get under skin, even though he didn't have serious outbursts, it was noticeable. It's sad that Kira was able to kill him in the end. Is it twisted that I was friends with both? I hope not. Because I was also friends with second Kira- Misa Amane. Misa was that one girl-friend I needed. I was the only girl among all of those police officers, so when they said Misa was going to be put under surveillance as well, I was relieved. Now I'm sure you are wondering- where did an average person like you come into all of this? It's a funny story, really. Might as well start from the very beginning.

"Aww, come on! Do I _have _to?"

A nineteen-year-old girl pouted, staring down at a maid's uniform. It was absolutely degrading, and there was no way that they were going to make her wear it. She knew when she accepted the job for housekeeping that she would wear some sort of uniform, but wearing something like that seemed humiliating. It was the normal stereotype uniform- black lacey dress underneath a white apron-like clothing. They were even giving her black stockings.

Her manager looked down at her sternly, his slightly silver brows furrowed in frustration. "Miki, it is hotel policy. Every employee must wear a uniform."

"But _this_?" Miki waved the dress around in front of his face for emphasis.

The manager growled, swatting it away. "Yes, _that._ Now put it on. Room 207 needs to be cleaned, some one is staying there tonight."

"But- ugh…" She gave up, snatching up the horrible outfit and stockings and stalked towards the nearest restroom. Once inside, she stripped down to her lingerie before sliding the uniform over her skinny body. Miki grabbed the black stockings and pulled them over her legs, making them appear a deep charcoal color. Finally, she slipped on a pair of shiny dress shoes. She inspected herself in the mirror, her chocolate eyes narrowing in disgust. Her hair was frizzy from rubbing against the fabric, which Miki quickly fixed by brushing out her long, dark brown pigtails with a brush she retrieved from her purse. _I can't believe I have to wear this… This is absolutely humiliating._

Swallowing her pride, Miki stormed out of the bathroom to retrieve the cleaning cart. When she found the closet didn't have one, which is where the carts are stored, she walked up to the front desk. There she was informed that she would have to travel up to the third floor and get it out of room 198.

"You've got to be joking," she muttered as she stomped into the elevator, pressing the three button as she entered.

Miki Tamura was an average nineteen-year-old girl. She had just graduated high school last year, and was planning on starting college relatively soon. In the meantime, she took the _great_ tip from her friend to apply at a local hotel in Tokyo. What a mistake. Yesterday they had her scrubbing the men's restrooms, and the day before that she had to deal with the 'rowdy guests' on floor five. Now it was housekeeping in a whoreish outfit? She was supposed to be cleaning rooms, not selling herself.

_Bing!_

She exited the elevator, traveling down the long hallway. It was eerily quiet, considering she was the only one in the hallway. Miki could even hear what was going on in the hotel rooms. As she passed a certain one, she caught a few words that drew her attention.

"…And don't call me "L" anymore. Please always call me "Ryuzaki" from now on. Both for safety's sake."

Miki raised an eyebrow, moving closer to the door.

"L, huh?" she whispered. "Someone's pretending to be L…? Has to be, there's no way the real one would be here."

She pressed her ear against the door as she strained to hear what the voice who called himself L was saying. Miki learned it was not just him was in the room, but actually a group of people. They were beginning to talk about the Kira case, when they abruptly stopped.

"Please wait here for a moment…"

Miki widened her eyes as she heard footsteps right in front of the door. _Oh snap…_ she thought, frozen in place. If she ran, it would seem suspicious. But wouldn't just standing there seem even stranger? Unsure of what to do, Miki had no choice but to remain in place as the door opened.

"Umph!" Miki mumbled as she felled into the hotel room on top of someone's bare feet.

She looked up through her own brown hair. She was laying on the feet of a raven-haired individual. He was slightly paler than the average person, and appeared to carry himself in a disheveled way. He had onyx eyes that were boring down on her. They seemed blank, but she could detect traces of anger swirling in them. Beneath his eyes were very distinctive bags. He was certainly an odd individual, Miki decided.

"I believe I did not pay for this hotel room to be eavesdropped on," he said icily as he studied her.

She scrambled to her feet. "Uh… Sorry?" Miki tried. When all she got was silence, she quickly pointed to her nametag. "Miki Tamura. I'm an employee. Don't arrest me please."

The man, who looked around his mid-twenties, continued to look at her blankly. "I could care less about your identity."

"Look, if you think I'm going to tell anyone what I heard, I didn't hear anything important." she told him, trying to sound convincing. "Plus I've got better things to do."

Silence again. Miki fiddled with the lace on her whore-uniform awkwardly. "I take it that you are L? Or is someone else here L? I heard other voices… Not that it matters or anything, just trying to start conversation."

"Please close the door." the man ordered, ignoring her question.

Miki saluted and gave a bright smile. "Yes sir!" She quickly backed out, pulling the door with her. The raven-haired man stopped the brunette abruptly. She gulped.

"With you on _this_ side of the door."

_Dang… I really screwed up this time. This guy might actually be L. _She let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, _right_. How silly of me."

Miki moved slowly entered the room again, this time getting the collective stares of everyone in the room. There was a group of nervous-looking individuals behind the black-haired man, who were talking in hushed voices to each other. The man she thought was L rolled his eyes. "Please, be quiet. I need to speak with her and you are all talking rather loudly."

"I-I apologize, Ryuzaki," an older looking man with a mustache stuttered.

Ah, Ryuzaki. "So you _are _L?" she inquired, giving the man a few up and down glances, taking everything in. "Somehow I pictured you differently. You look homeless."

"Now is not the time to be talking about my appearance," L replied, not amused by her comments.

Miki crossed her arms. "Then what _do _you want to talk about? I'm supposed to be cleaning room 207-"

"Why were you not there then?" L interrupted.

"Because the cleaning cart is on this floor!" she snapped, rolling her chocolate eyes. "Now can I please go? Pretty please with whatever on top?"

"I am afraid I cannot let that happen. You have heard too much," the raven-haired detective replied somewhat coldly.

Miki blinked in surprise before smiling a slightly amused grin. "What, you planning on throwing me in prison because I know you're L? Sorry bud, you aren't that important. I technically haven't done any wrong."

"I agree, Ryuzaki. You should just let her go," a man in the group said quietly. He looked like the youngest one there, with dark brown hair the same shade as Miki's.

L frowned. "I cannot just allow her to leave… Miki-san, for the time being you will stay here with me… Until I can find an alternative…" He looked thoughtful and _very_ frustrated.

"Staying with you, huh?" Miki said, running a hand through one of her long pigtails. "I've always wanted a roommate…"

L blinked. "I would not consider us roommates. I am a detective, and in this situation, you are more of a suspect. Or at least that is how I am feeling as of right now."

She waved my hand dismissively. "If you're into role-playing, that's cool too."

L's only reply was a long look. "Go take a seat, but please do not interrupt our meeting. We are discussing serious matters."

She nodded in mock understanding. "Right. I would hate to interrupt such a serious meeting. Say, you got a sense of sanity? Because forcing me to stay here will probably never end in your favor. You will learn that soon."

Again, L refused to acknowledge the brunette. He turned and murmured to the group which nodded in unison to whatever the world's greatest detective said to them.

"Ignoring me isn't smart either," Miki continued. "When I don't feel I'm getting attention, I tend to sing."

The group moved into the next room where they continued their meeting. Miki could pick out a few nervous and upset voices before L silenced them.

"…Please, calm down everyone. I will make sure she never leaves my sight."

"I wouldn't promise that!" Miki sang loudly. She decided that this would be a suitable punishment- being as annoying as possible. If she unbearable enough, maybe L would just let her off with a warning. That would be nice.

Miki smirked when she heard L sigh in the other room. "Miki-san, please be quiet. We are discussing the Kira case."

"What if I told you I was pro-Kira?" she called loudly even though they were in the next room over. "Would you live with me then?"

"Pro-Kira and Anti-Kira mean nothing to me. I am only trying to capture him. Now please be quiet."

"How polite are you." the brunette muttered, falling into a plush armchair in the room beside them. After a few dull moments of boring police theories, Miki decided to open her big mouth again. "I'm about to start singing!"

"Miki-san, that would not be advi-"

Miki gave her outfit a glance before coming up with a perfect song to sing, "Black dress, with the tights underneath…"

She paused to give L a chance to reply. When all she got was silence from her unhappy audience, she continued, "I got the breath of my last cigarette on my teeth…"

"Miki-san, is this pop garbage that you are singing?" L questioned in the other room. "If so, please stop. Actually, even if it is not, please stop. It is highly distracting."

"3OH!3 is _not_ pop garbage. They are a talented American group," Miki countered, putting up a fake hurt tone. When the raven-haired detective began talking again amongst the group of police officers, she decided it was the perfect time to continue. "And she's an actress. But she ain't got no need…"

"That is improper grammar," L stated blankly from the other room.

Miki waved her hand dismissively, even though he couldn't see her. "She's got money from her parents in a trust fund back east."

"And so, we can conclude that Kira is very childish and hates losing…" L continued, not giving her any attention.

Miki raised her voice a few notches. "T-T-Tongues! Always pressed to your cheek… While my tongue is on the inside of some other girl's teeth…"

She heard a sigh from the other room and shuffling. Miki grinned as L came into view. "Want an in-person concert? Sorry, the price is my freedom."

"Are you going to stop singing?" he deadpanned. He was clearly irritated, even though his voice was a calm monotone. It was highly amusing.

Miki tapped her chin in false-thoughtfulness, staring up dramatically before snapping her gaze back down to L. She smirked. "No."

L blinked before turning towards a man she had not seen before. He was standing near the door, his whole body disguised in a dark cloak. His face was hidden amongst the layer of clothing, making it hard to see his face.

"Watari, please make sure she cannot escape. I will be taking the task force to a different room in the hotel… where she is not so distracting." L spoke to the man he called Watari, glancing at her in the corner of his eye.

Watari nodded. "Of course, L. You are free to use my room."

"I wish to be referred to as Ryuzaki," L corrected. "And thank you."

Miki blinked as L and the rest of the task force walked out of the room. She stuck her tongue out immaturely as they gave her irritated glances, which rewarded her a few eye rolls and shaking of heads. She was so busy being immature that she didn't even notice the strange man in the cloak handcuffing her wrist to the wooden arm of the chair she was sitting in.

_Clink!_

_Miki blinked down at the handcuff and gave it a few experimental tugs. She looked up with false innocence reflecting in her eyes. "Hey, what gives? Is L into bondage too?" _

_The man sighed, rubbing his temple through his cloak. "Please, try not to be so difficult. L is very childish and hates losing. You will never win in a contest like this with him." He spoke in a sophisticated-sounding British accent. _

"_I'm not trying to win anything," the brunette replied, fixing her long pigtails in the reflection of a shiny, glass lamp. "I'm supposed to be working right now. And listening to police officers talk about Kira stuff isn't that exciting." _

"_I find it hard to believe that you aren't also trying to aggravate L. Whatever the reason, don't attempt it. He's very stubborn." Watari replied before walking off, muttering a few words to himself. _

_Miki sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair. The hand cuff was cold as it pressed against her warm flesh uncomfortably, leaving a small red mark. "This is going to be a loooooong night…" she mumbled, closing her eyes and remembering where she left off on the song. "Tell your boyfriend…" _


End file.
